Ultra-Orthodox Jews Protest Against Court Order To Enlist In Israeli Military

Ultra-Orthodox Jews Tuesday evening blocked a major street in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, protesting the contentious issue of military conscription. The Supreme Court ruled in June that the defence ministry could no longer grant blanket exemptions to Jewish seminary students from the conscript military. An arrangement in place since around the time of Israel's establishment in 1948 when the number of ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, was tiny. In July, the military called up 1,000 ultra-Orthodox men after Israel's defense ministry said that 7,000 members of the community would gradually receive notices. Leaders of the rapidly growing ultra-Orthodox community say that forcing seminary students to serve alongside secular Israelis risks destroying their identity as religious Jews. The government faces increasing pressure from Israeli reservists, of which many have served for the majority of the past year, to draft ultra-Orthodox members.