Protest by Jerusalem Faction
Protest by Jerusalem FactionYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

Dozens of anti-draft demonstrators gathered in front of army enlistment offices on Rashi Street in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning.

According to 0404, the demonstrators have blocked the road and disrupted traffic. They also refused to heed instructions of police who are at the scene.

Two of the demonstrators have reportedly been arrested.

The Peleg Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Faction, haredi students under the leadership of Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach) has organized dozens of protests across the country in recent months over the detention of draft dodgers from the haredi community.

Under Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach's orders, the Peleg Yerushalmi has opposed any cooperation with IDF draft officials, even for the purposes of registration and the legal obtaining of draft deferrals for yeshiva students. Full-time yeshiva students in Israel receive deferrals from mandatory IDF service for as long as they stay in yeshiva, but they must register as does every other Israeli citizen.

On Sunday, at least 35 protesters were arrested in the capital, with light rail service disrupted around the Central Bus Station, as the Peleg Yerushalmi pledged to renew protests in response to the arrest of 12 haredi men who were arrested after refusing to report to army enlistment offices.

Organizers of the protests said Rabbi Auerbach urged supporters Saturday night “to continue protesting and to go out into the streets of the city, [as] the draft decree violates all the principles of Judaism."