Ultra-Orthodox activists float mass protest over draft arrests, but party officials deny approval

A group of senior Haredi activists, some from the fringes of the ultra-Orthodox public and some from the mainstream, is reportedly trying to organize an unprecedented protest against arrests of yeshiva students and married students who did not report to enlistment offices. The plan, which has not yet been approved, is said to seek backing from major rabbinic leaders and could take place in the coming days, with Wednesday being considered the preferred date.

According to the reports, the protest would involve tens of thousands of Haredim traveling in large motorcades toward a military prison, using flags and loudspeakers to slow traffic and protest the detention of what the religious world calls “Haredi draft evaders.” The effort is said to include figures from different Haredi factions, with Lithuanian rabbinic leaders having already approved it, although that claim was later denied.

Dagel HaTorah responded that the matter had not reached the political level. Party officials said, “We do not know of such an event. Our only power is in speech. Perhaps this is a private initiative by activists, but it has not yet reached the political echelon, and we have not received instructions from the great rabbis so far.” The denial raises questions about how advanced the plan really is and whether it has any official rabbinic or political backing.

The report comes amid a wave of arrests in recent weeks. In the past few days, several married students were detained in dramatic circumstances, including one at the Gilat junction in the south and another in Ofakim, where his wife was left by the roadside. At the same time, seven yeshiva students and married students were released this week from Prison 10 after long detention periods following their refusal to appear at enlistment offices. Their release was welcomed by families and members of the Haredi community. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Faction has been staging widespread protests across Israel, blocking major intersections and highways over what it calls persecution of Torah study, with recent unrest including a yeshiva student being run over near Ben Shemen Interchange and a police raid on Or Yisrael Yeshiva in Petah Tikva.