Haredi Protests Erupt Over Resumption of Military Draft Evasion Arrests

The call for demonstrations follows a series of recent arrests of Haredi draft evaders, which the military had announced would resume in October. On Tuesday night, October 6, 2026, a major confrontation occurred in Modi'in when military police arrived to arrest a draft evader named Yairi Lieberman. Over 1,500 Haredi protesters mobilized quickly using an emergency alert system called "Tzeva Kachol" and blocked the police from leaving the building. Following clashes, police intervened to extract the soldiers, and Lieberman was subsequently released.

Additional arrests of draft evaders have fueled the escalation, including one individual apprehended in Eilat and another detained overnight in Beersheba. The Committee to Save the World of Torah criticized the broader Haredi leadership for abandoning the arrested students and described their imprisonment as a desecration of God's name. Unlike previous smaller demonstrations by fringe groups, this protest is being organized by the central stream of the Jerusalem Faction, raising expectations of a significantly larger turnout.