Haredi Zionists Against Military Service Clash with Israeli Police in Jerusalem
Haredi Jews opposing military service clash with Israeli police forces in Jerusalem using stones and pepper spray.
TV channel 12 announced that protesters opposing military service for Haredi Jews attempted to prevent a gathering to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the formation of Orthodox Jewish units in the Israeli army in Quds.
Protesters clashed with police creating traffic jams on the roads around the venue. Protesters attacked Israeli police with stones and pepper spray, and police used water cannon to disperse them from the scene.
The conference will be attended by thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews, including hundreds of Haredi soldiers, and the Orthodox leadership of the Israeli army is one of the financial sponsors of the conference.
Despite efforts by Israeli police, dozens of protesters were still present around the conference venue and attempted to disrupt it.
Israeli police announced that at least three of their forces were injured in the clashes and taken to hospital.
Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox Jews, are fundamentalists within the Orthodox branch of Judaism, and they consider their beliefs to derive directly from Moses and the Torah revealed to him at Mount Sinai.
About eleven percent of Israel's population is Haredi, often living in all-Orthodox areas and cities.
