Jerusalem has been a city of contrasts and convergences this past week, as it hosted a series of events that drew deep lines between Israel’s religious, political, and social communities—while also, at unexpected moments, revealing threads of unity. On October 30, 2025, hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Jews gathered in the heart of Jerusalem for what organizers insisted was not a protest, but a mass prayer. The following day, a Channel 12 poll painted a portrait of a nation wrestling with questions of sovereignty, identity, and the future of its democracy.
The prayer gathering, which some media outlets described as a demonstration, was organized in response to mounting tensions over military draft exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, community. According to reporting by The Times of Israel, the event was remarkable for its sheer scale—hundreds of thousands filled the streets, the area awash in a sea of black and white, punctuated by the colors of various Jewish traditions. The crowd, which began to assemble by late morning, was united not by political slogans or protest chants, but by shared rituals: Mincha, Tehillim, Selichos, and the Shema prayer. The emotional climax came as the multitude cried out “Shema Yisrael,” a moment described as “indescribable” by those present.
Despite concerns from some in the media about possible disturbances—one hotel housing Eretz Hakodesh delegates was locked down from 10 a.m.—the main event concluded peacefully. By half an hour after the prayers ended, the streets had largely emptied. Yet headlines the next day focused on “violent clashes with police.” According to eyewitnesses cited by The Times of Israel, these incidents involved only a few dozen rowdy teenagers who lingered after the main crowd had dispersed. “Their behavior was wrong, but it does not represent the approximately half-million who prayed peacefully,” one attendee remarked, emphasizing that neither rabbis nor the broader Orthodox community condoned such actions.
The gathering, however, was not simply a display of religious solidarity. Later that evening, observers noted scenes that seemed to defy the narrative of division. A soldier with a kippah and peyot was spotted in heated but respectful debate with a yeshiva student about the merits of army versus Torah study. Nearby, a young Gerrer Hasid conversed calmly with an older secular Israeli man. These moments, though fleeting, were a reminder that beneath the surface of conflict, there remains a foundation of mutual respect and shared heritage.
Yet, as the prayer rally unfolded in Jerusalem, the broader political context was anything but tranquil. The same week, Channel 12 released a poll that revealed deep fissures in Israeli society. Most strikingly, 67% of Israelis surveyed said they believe the United States—not Israel itself—is now steering the country’s military operations in Gaza. Only 24% thought Israel was calling the shots. When asked whether Israel had effectively become a “client state” of the US, nearly 70% agreed, despite denials from both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior American officials, including US Vice President JD Vance.
Netanyahu, for his part, insisted that Israel remains a “sovereign state,” describing its relationship with Washington as a “partnership” rather than dependency. But public sentiment, at least as captured by the poll, suggests a growing anxiety about the erosion of national autonomy. The findings come at a time when the stakes could hardly be higher: the ongoing conflict in Gaza, questions about military conscription, and the broader debate over the very nature of Israeli democracy.
The issue of military service is particularly explosive. The same Channel 12 poll found that a slim majority of Israelis—51%—support revoking voting rights for citizens who do not perform military or national service, with 32% strongly supporting the idea. Opposition voters overwhelmingly backed the proposal (68%), while coalition supporters were more evenly split, with nearly half opposing it.
The Haredi draft exemption has been a flashpoint for years, but tensions have escalated in recent months. On October 30, as many as 200,000 Haredi men jammed the entrance to Jerusalem for what organizers called a “million man” protest against conscription. The rally came on the heels of a crackdown on draft evasion: more than 870 apparently Haredi men have been arrested, representing roughly 7% of the 6,975 officially classified as draft dodgers in recent months, according to The Times of Israel.
Public opinion is unambiguous. A majority (53%) of poll respondents said they would not vote for a party that supports legislation allowing Haredim to avoid military service, compared to just 24% who said they would. Among opposition voters, that number soared to 81%. The draft issue has become a litmus test for political loyalty and civic belonging.
But the poll also revealed anxieties that transcend any single issue. As Israel marked three decades since the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, 67% of Israelis expressed fear that the country could witness another political murder. This concern cut across political lines, with roughly 70% of both right-wing and center-left voters sharing the same worry. When asked to reflect on Rabin’s legacy, 51% viewed his contribution to the state as positive, while 28% described it as negative. A third of respondents said Israel would be in better shape today had Rabin not been killed; 22% said the opposite.
Even the world of Jewish organizational politics has not been immune to controversy. Three-quarters of respondents (75%) said it would be inappropriate to appoint Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister’s son, to a senior post in the World Zionist Organization, with 61% calling it “completely inappropriate.” This sentiment was strong even among coalition voters, 58% of whom opposed the idea.
Amid these swirling debates, the 39th World Zionist Congress, originally scheduled to conclude this week, has been extended by up to two weeks due to a lack of agreement among its various factions. Commentary and analysis of the Congress’s outcomes will have to wait, but its postponement is itself a sign of the deep divisions—and the ongoing search for consensus—within the Jewish people and the Israeli polity.
For all the headlines about discord, there are moments that hint at a more complex reality. As one observer put it, “We may not look alike or think alike, but beneath the surface, most Jews in Israel are not progressives, and we share far more than what divides us.” The events of this week—prayers, protests, polls, and conversations—suggest that while the fractures are real, so too are the bonds that hold Israeli society together, however tenuously.
