Clashes Erupt at Secular Protest Blocking Access to Bnei Brak

Dozens of demonstrators blocked access roads to Bnei Brak on Friday in response to ultra-Orthodox protests over this week’s arrests of draft dodgers, which had caused severe traffic disruptions across Israel. The protest led to confrontations and shouted exchanges between the two sides, and police had to physically separate the groups.

At one protest site, the demonstrators were filmed singing Israel’s national anthem. Facing them were ultra-Orthodox protesters who responded by singing what the report called the “anthem of evasion” and holding signs reading, “I too will go proudly to jail.”