The IDF’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, has condemned the actions of Charedi anti-conscription rioters after two female soldiers were chased through the streets of Bnei Brak.
The pair were forced to take cover behind overturned rubbish bins as a large crowd of strictly-Orthodox men pursued them.
The soldiers had been conducting a routine visit to the home of a member of their unit and ventured into the area unarmed and dressed in long skirts to avoid provoking any tensions given the fraught relations between the IDF and Charedi community at present.
However, a false report emerged that they were members of the military police enforcing conscription orders against draft dodgers.
Ultimately, the servicewomen had to be rescued by police, with officers shielding them from the mob until they could be ushered in a police car.
The unrest continued after the pair had escaped, with Charedim launching stones at police and setting fire to vehicles.
Police confirmed they had arrested 23 people in relation to the violence after riot squad officers used stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
"A reality in which IDF soldiers, men and women, cannot move freely within the State of Israel is an intolerable reality that must be addressed,” said Zamir.
"We will not accept harm to our soldiers, and I expect that the law will be fully enforced against those who harmed you.”
The rioters were similarly condemned by Blue and White chair Benny Gantz, who said: “Yesterday in Bnei Brak the extremists defeated the state. There is no police presence in the streets.”
And Avigdor Liberman, leader of Yisrael Beytenu, called those participating in violence “terrorists” and accused senior rabbis of inciting violence.
The protest was the latest in a wave of unrest that has gripped Charedi areas since 2024, when the Supreme Court struck down the community’s exemption from serving in the military, which it had enjoyed for more than 80 years.
On several occasions, mass marches backed by senior rabbinical figures have turned violent, including assaults on police officers, as Charedim protested the arrests of hundreds of yeshiva students accused of defying draft orders.
The coalition government, which depends on the support of the Knesset’s two major Charedi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ), is currently attempting to agree the text of a new bill to regulate the conscription of yeshiva students.
The latest version of the bill, heavily redrafted after Shas and UTJ threatened to pull their support, includes a number of significant compromises, including allowing Charedim to fulfill their service in non-military roles, such as in the security or intelligence services, and a time limit on legal sanctions against draft dodgers.
Nonetheless, both parties have threatened to force the dissolution of the Knesset by blocking the passage of the state budget if the draft bill is not passed into law first.
The budget must pass by the end of march or fresh elections will be called. The Charedi draft bill has not yet gone through its first of three readings and remains with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.
The delay in bringing it to a vote reportedly stems from concerns voiced by that committee’s legal adviser, Miri Frenkel-Shor, who is understood to feel that the current version will not comply with the Supreme Court’s judgment.
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