JERUSALEM — Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men clashed with Israeli police in central Jerusalem on Sunday in protest against a Supreme Court order ordering them to begin enlisting in the military.
As Israel wages war in Gaza, a landmark decision last week ordering the government to begin conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews could lead to the collapse of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.
Tens of thousands of men gathered in ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods to protest the order.
However, at night the crowds headed towards central Jerusalem and began rioting.
Israeli police said protesters hurled stones and attacked the car of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish minister, hurling stones at him.
Water cannons filled with skunk-scented water and police on horseback were used to disperse the crowds.
But the protests were still out of control late Sunday.
Military service is compulsory for most Jewish men and women in Israel.
However, politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties have won privileges allowing their followers to be exempt from military service and study in seminaries instead.
The long-running arrangement created widespread public resentment, which has only intensified during the eight-month war with Hamas.
AP
More than 600 soldiers were killed in the fighting, tens of thousands of reservists were called up, and careers, businesses, and lives were upended.
Ultra-Orthodox parties and their supporters say forcing men to serve in the army would destroy their generations-old way of life.
Thousands of men gathered in the square early Sunday morning for mass prayer.
Many held signs criticising the government, including one that read: “No men should be conscripted.”
Ultra-Orthodox parties are key members of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s governing coalition and could force new elections if they decide to quit the government in protest.
Party leaders have not said whether they will leave the government.
Doing so could be risky, as Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition government has become less popular since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war.
