Over 300,000 Ultra-Orthodox Jews Protest Mandatory Military Draft in Jerusalem

Jerusalem: Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim) participated in a massive demonstration on Thursday at the entrance to occupied Jerusalem, protesting mandatory conscription into the Israeli army. Estimates suggest that the number of participants exceeded 300,000, while Israeli police closed the city's entrances and main streets. According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, Israeli media reported that hundreds of thousands participated in the demonstration, dubbed the "Million-Man March," to protest the arrest of yeshiva students who refuse military service. The reports added that there was widespread chaos at bus and train stations and severe traffic congestion throughout Jerusalem. This demonstration comes amidst an ongoing crisis between religious parties and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the conscription law, which has for decades exempted Haredim from military service. The religious parties, which resigned from the government earlier this year, are pushin g for the passage of a conscription bill that would grant exemptions from military service to religious Jews, a bill the opposition calls the "draft evasion law."