JERUSALEM: Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews protesting against compulsory military service for their community broke into an army base near Tel Aviv on Tuesday, the military said in a statement.
“Over the past few hours, dozens of protesters attempted to break into the Tel Hashomer base during protests that took place outside of the base,” a military statement said.
The demonstrators “managed to infiltrate the Adjutant Corps Monument adjacent to the base fence” before being cleared out by police, it said.
Tel Hashomer, located east of Tel Aviv, is the largest base for newly enlisted army recruits in Israel.
The Israeli military said it “condemns this violent behavior and insists that the protesters be brought to justice.”
“The enlistment of ultra-orthodox citizens is an operational necessity and is being conducted in accordance with the law,” and the military is “determined” to press ahead with it, the statement added
Historically exempt from compulsory military service, ultra-Orthodox seminary students are being called up while Israel’s war in Gaza and a potential conflict with Hezbollah on the northern border sap resources and fuel resentment of those who do not have to serve.
The call-ups follow a ruling in June by Israel’s top court that exemptions from mandatory service for ultra-Orthodox men were discriminatory and that the state must draft them.
Under longstanding arrangements, ultra-Orthodox Jews, who make up about 13 percent of Israel’s 10 million population, had not been subject to the draft.
Members of the largely insular community, where young men of recruitment age typically study in Jewish seminaries, have taken to the streets to protest conscription, leading to clashes with police in Jerusalem.
Ultra-Orthodox men had already clashed with police outside Tal Hashomer on Monday before being dispersed or physically carried away.
In July, one leading ultra-Orthodox rabbi, Dov Lando, urged Yeshiva students to ignore the summons orders, writing in the Yated Neeman daily that it was “war” against religious Jews.
Ultra-Orthodox anti-draft protesters storm Israeli army base
https://arab.news/25np4
Ultra-Orthodox anti-draft protesters storm Israeli army base
- Historically exempt from compulsory military service, ultra-Orthodox seminary students are being called up
- Israel’s war in Gaza and a potential conflict with Hezbollah on the northern border sap resources and fuel resentment of those who do not have to serve
US announces ‘large-scale’ strikes against Daesh in Syria
WASHINGTON: US and allied forces carried out “large-scale” strikes against the Daesh group in Syria on Saturday in response to an attack last month that left three Americans dead, the US military said.
“The strikes today targeted Daesh throughout Syria” and were part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, which was launched “in direct response to the deadly Daesh attack on US and Syrian forces in Palmyra, Syria” on December 13, US Central Command said in a statement on X.
CENTCOM said the operation was ordered by President Donald Trump following the ambush and is aimed at “root(ing) out Islamic terrorism against our warfighters, prevent(ing) future attacks, and protect(ing) American and partner forces in the region.”
The statement continued: “If you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice,” adding that US and coalition forces remain “resolute in pursuing terrorists who seek to harm the United States.”
* With AFP
