Charedi mob tries to storm police station after ‘deserter’ arrest

Yair Golan, chairman of the Democrats party and a reserve major general in the IDF, claimed the incident was a “direct result” of Benjamin Netanyahu’s “policy of evasion” when it comes to tackling the highly charged issue of Charedi conscription.

"While our finest sons and daughters risk their lives on the front lines, the coalition provides tailwind to violent lawbreaking by deserters,” Golan wrote in a post on X.

"The rule of law must be enforced with an iron fist, and anyone who raises a hand against the security forces belongs behind bars and bolts."

Through an arrangement established during the founding of the state of Israel, Charedi men for decades enjoyed de facto exemption from the mandatory IDF or non-military service requirement that legally applies to all Jewish Israeli citizens.

The Charedi exemption dated back to Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, when then prime minister David Ben-Gurion struck a deal with Charedi leaders to release from the duty of mandatory military service those whose full-time occupation was Torah study.

In 2024, Israel’s Supreme Court unanimously ended the draft exemption, making full-time yeshiva students eligible for conscription.

Arab Israeli citizens of Israel typically do not serve in the military or do national service. The exemption for Israel’s largest ethnic minority is not explicitly established through law, but is implemented through army directives. These directives have not applied to the Druze and Circassian communities, who do typically serve alongside their Jewish counterparts.
Additional reporting by Katie Grant