Charedi teen killed in bus ramming during Jerusalem anti-enlistment protest

The bus driver has been arrested, reportedly telling police that he had been trying to evade protestors blocking his passage.

According to the Times of Israel, he is due to appear in court later today on a charge of aggravated murder.

Charedi MKs have reacted with outrage to the incident, claiming it is the result of anti-Orthodox "incitement".

"It is impossible to ignore the fact that more than once during demonstrations by the strictly-Orthodox public, there is a public atmosphere that it is permissible to harm the demonstrators," said United Torah Judaism's (UTJ) Meir Porush.

"The situation in which incitement is rampant against the ultra-Orthodox public is causing Jews to fear for their safety in the Land of Israel," he added.

UTJ leader Yitzhak Goldknopf said: "My heart goes out to the young man’s family at this difficult time, and I send my best wishes for a speedy recovery and a full recovery to the other injured in the incident.

"Loss of control and harm to human life cannot be allowed to become the order of the day."

And Shas, the other major Charedi party, decried the "horrific" scene, saying: "We are shaken to the depths of our souls by the grave ramming incident in Jerusalem.

"We demand from the police an immediate, thorough and uncompromising investigation, and full justice for those responsible. The blood of Charedi men is not cheap."

Large street protests have been common in Israel amid the protracted row over the issue of Charedi conscription since the Supreme Court struck down a religious exemption from service in 2024 after 80 years.

On Monday, Shas announced it will refuse to back the government's upcoming state budget unless an acceptable version of the Charedi draft bill is passed before the vote.

A heavily watered-down version of the draft bill, which would see only yeshiva graduates conscripted rather than full-time students and contains weakened sanctions against draft dodgers, is currently working its way through the Knesset Defence Committee.

UTJ already quit the coalition amid the row over the bill in July, leaving the prime minister with a working majority of just one MK.

And Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of UTJ’s Degel HaTorah faction, weighed in again to criticise ministers over the detention of yeshiva students who refused to obey conscription orders.

"When a yeshiva student is placed in prison solely because he wishes to study Torah, it is not he who is in prison! The Torah itself, God forbid, is in prison,” he said.

"Let everyone who is complicit in this crime of casting the holy Torah, the Torah of God, behind bars know this: you are not fighting flesh and blood; you are fighting the Torah and the one who gave it, blessed be his name.

"Regrettably, we find ourselves in exile among Jews, and we all pray that God will help us, that he will soon redeem us from this exile and that we will study Torah in peace and security.”

Unless a compromise can be found with Shas, the government has only a few months to get the bill passed - against stiff opposition - before the March 31 budget deadline or else face fresh elections.