Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters demonstrated on Tuesday in Tel Aviv outside an event for yeshiva students who are enlisting in the IDF. The demonstrators tried to block the entrance but were cleared by the police. The extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters shouted, "Let him be killed and not pass" at the police officers who were called to the scene.
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Police and ultra-Orthodox protesters clash near recruitment center
(Photo: Dana Kopel)
Protesters also shouted at soldiers who came to the conference, saying: "The soldiers in Gaza are not protecting us, the Torah protects us." They shouted at the organizers, including soldiers, and said: "Shame on you! You are Auschwitz", and an ultra-Orthodox soldier who came to the conference was attacked with chants of "Shame on you, you corrupt us all."
Brigadier General Shay Taib, head of the IDF's Planning Division, was blocked by the mob at the entrance. They called him a 'Nazi' and a 'murderer' and protesters accused him and Rabbi David Leibel, who works to recruit ultra-Orthodox men to the IDF of being "without honor." A counter-protester carrying an Israeli flag stood in front of the ultra-Orthodox demonstrators but was asked by a policeman to move, so as not to inflame the situation
Amid the protest, the police cleared the path for dozens of interested ultra-Orthodox young men who came to the event to learn about their possible roles in the IDF. The roles presented by the IDF will combine "maintaining the values of the Torah, meaningful service and acquiring a profession," according to the IDF.
Recently, the IDF has been preparing for ultra-Orthodox recruits, even before the 1,000 draft notices were sent out last week. The IDF requested that half of the new ultra-Orthodox recruits be between the ages of 18 and 21. Accordingly, the IDF is working to create adapted platforms to communicate directly with them - such as the conference held on Tuesday.
The IDF offers a broad choice of positions to the Haredi soldiers, ranging from Army, Intelligence, Air Force, and Navy. For example, the IDF will establish new military units for its ultra-Orthodox soldiers such as an ultra-Orthodox company that will serve in the southern Golan and ultra-Orthodox battalions in the Judea and Samaria Brigades.
In addition, the IDF intends to establish an optical warehouse for the Hasidic Gur community at the tank production base in the Tel Hashomer base, letting the soldiers serve close to home. As for the gender issue, the IDF promises that not a single right of a female soldier or officer will be infringed upon due to the service of the ultra-Orthodox recruits.
Last week, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fox said that "the ultra-Orthodox agree that the recruitment rates should be raised, and they should be filled by those who do not study Torah." In the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, he added that "the goal is to regulate the status of those whose studies postpone their conscription into the army."