A protest in Israel's Modi'in has made the Haredi community's military service status one of the key issues on the country's election agenda. Hundreds of Haredi Jews clashed with police while protesting the detention of a person reportedly evading military service.
The Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation said some people tried to enter a building during Monday evening's demonstration and then confronted police. The detainee was later released, while a large number of police officers were deployed in the area.
The Israeli military said military police had carried out an operation in Modi'in as part of procedures targeting people who had evaded military service or failed to report for duty. The military said many protesters tried to prevent military police from carrying out their duties and to interfere with the detention, prompting police to intervene to disperse the crowd.
The military condemned attempts to obstruct or harm its personnel and said procedures targeting people who evade military service or fail to report for duty would continue. During the clashes, some protesters called the police "Nazis."
Opposition blames Netanyahu government
Following the incident in Modi'in, opposition leaders held Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government responsible for allowing Haredi draft evasion to continue. The opposition said that if it wins the election, it would not allow draft evasion to continue and would cut funding to religious institutions whose students refuse to serve in the military.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said hundreds of people had clashed with police following the detention of a Haredi man reportedly evading military service. Lapid questioned whether the rule of law existed in Israel and also criticized National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats Party, argued that the Netanyahu government posed a concrete threat to Israel's security. Golan claimed that Netanyahu continued to finance draft evasion and weaken the police in order to remain in power.
Golan said the election offered an opportunity to end practices that finance draft evasion, enforce mandatory military service and restore the rule of law.
Military service issue in the October 27 election
Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the opposition Yashar party, argued that the events in Modi'in were not an isolated incident and that efforts were being made to normalize draft evasion. Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israeli military, said the government he would lead would pass a genuine military service law to strengthen the Israeli army and end the situation in which some people serve while others evade service.
Eisenkot said the issue of Haredi military recruitment had moved to the center of Israel's election, scheduled for October 27. He said voters would choose between continuing the Netanyahu government and a new government that would make military service mandatory.
Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister and leader of the opposition Together party, also said following the events in Modi'in that Israel was on the brink of a new disaster. Bennett said soldiers and police officers carrying out their duties had been caught among hundreds of protesters, forced to negotiate their way out of the area, and described what happened as unacceptable.
Bennett held Netanyahu and his political allies responsible for the incident. Saying that he would not allow "extreme rebels" to run a state within the state under the government's protection, Bennett said no one who did not perform military service would receive even a single shekel under his government.
Debate over Haredi military service status
Haredim make up approximately 13 percent of Israel's population. A significant portion of the community refuses military service on the grounds that its members are engaged in Torah study and fears the impact of integration with secular society on its religious way of life.
The Haredi community is represented primarily by the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties. These parties have been among Netanyahu's traditional partners in his past and current governments and are expected to play a decisive role in coalitions that could be formed after the election.
The Israeli military says it is facing a shortage of personnel because of military operations continuing on multiple fronts for nearly three years, while the debate over Haredi refusal to serve is also intensifying. Military tensions in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran and the occupied West Bank are further fueling the debate as reservists are repeatedly called up for duty.
For decades, Haredim postponed military service on the grounds that they were studying at religious institutions; some benefited from the arrangement until reaching the age of exemption. In June 2024, Israel's Supreme Court ruled that Haredim must perform military service and ordered the suspension of financial support for religious institutions whose students refuse to enlist.
