By Khaled Yousef and Mohammad Sio
JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL (AA) – Israeli police on Tuesday arrested three ultra-Orthodox men who dodged their military service, marking the first such arrests.
The three men were participating in a protest in the central city of Yehud against construction work near local cemeteries, which they viewed as desecration of graves, Israeli Channel 12 reported.
During the demonstration, police detained the three and turned them over to military police because they were fugitives from compulsory service.
“This is the first time police have arrested draft-dodging Haredim and handed them over to the military,” the channel said.
A lawyer representing the men said they were formally charged with draft evasion.
The arrests sparked anger within the Haredi community, with leaders threatening large-scale protests and road blockades in response.
Tensions over Haredi military service have surged since a June 25 ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court, which mandated the conscription of ultra-Orthodox men and barred financial aid to religious institutions whose students refuse to enlist.
Haredi make up about 13% of Israel’s 10 million citizens. Many reject military service, arguing that their lives are dedicated to Torah study and that integration into secular society would compromise their religious identity.
For decades, most Haredi men avoided conscription at age 18 by receiving repeated deferments for religious study until they reached the exemption age of 26.
Several political parties in both the governing coalition and the opposition have criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s push for legislation that would exempt Haredim from military service, calling it discriminatory.
These developments come as Israel continues its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 59,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.