Dozens of haredi protesters demonstrated Wednesday morning outside the IDF recruitment center in Jerusalem, in protest against the attempt to draft haredim.
The demonstration was held after the IDF had issued draft notices to dozens of haredim to report for processing at the draft office in Jerusalem Wednesday. The protesters clashed with police in an attempt to break through the barricades surrounding the building, and also blocked the streetcar tracks on Jaffa Street near the recruitment office.
The demonstrators dispersed to several locations near the draft office. At 12:00p.m. additional protesters were expected to arrive by means of charter buses organized from around the country.
Passersby confronted the protesters and in one video, a civilian is seen punching a protester during a heated argument over the issue of draft exemptions for yeshiva students.
Among the protesters was the extremist Edah Haredit group, the second defined group to take part in the protests following several weeks in which the equally extremist Jerusalemite Faction (Peleg Yerushalmi) had led the demonstrations. The Edah Haredit neither votes nor accepts benefits from the Israeli government and both groups do not make up a major part of the haredi population.
Last weekend, dozens of haredi extremists from the Jerusalemite Faction protested outside the draft center in Tiberias, to which haredim were summoned for processing.
During he protests, police confronted and tried to disperse the protesters. Seventeen protesters were arrested. The Jerusalemite Faction accused the police of stopping buses on their way from the center to Tiberias with hundreds of protesters on board, and ordering the drivers to return.
