Jerusalem was the scene of extraordinary upheaval this past week, as more than 300,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews—known as Haredim—gathered at the city’s entrance for what organizers dubbed a “million-man march.” The scale of the protest, which effectively shut down central Jerusalem and drew participants from all major Haredi streams, underscored the depth of resistance to Israel’s new military conscription law and the wider social and political rifts now threatening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The demonstration, held on Thursday, October 30, 2025, was sparked by the Israeli Supreme Court’s landmark June 2024 ruling that ended decades of near-blanket military exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men. Since the state’s founding, these exemptions were initially granted to a small cadre of Torah scholars but, over time, grew to encompass tens of thousands. As reported by the National Post, the Supreme Court’s decision mandated that Haredi men must be conscripted like their secular and religious Zionist peers—a move that has met fierce opposition in the ultra-Orthodox world.
Thursday’s gathering drew together the Lithuanian, Chassidic, and Sephardic Haredi communities, united in their condemnation of the government’s efforts to enforce conscription. The rally was marked by communal prayer, the recitation of Psalms, and impassioned speeches. Organizers issued a statement declaring, “The Torah is what stood for us at all times to protect and save, and even these days the holy Torah is the one that protects the Jewish presence in the Holy Land and the people of Israel, and it is only thanks to it that we exist.” They demanded that the longstanding arrangement allowing Torah students to pursue their studies without interruption be maintained, calling for vigilance in preserving this tradition.
The mood on the ground was tense, with approximately 2,000 police officers—including Border Police—deployed to secure the event and direct traffic. Jerusalem was all but closed to vehicles, and Israel Railways, in coordination with police, shut down the city’s central train station from midday. Despite the heavy security presence, the demonstration was largely peaceful, though not without tragedy. According to police, one death was reported: Menachem Mendel Litzman, a 20-year-old, fell from a height of about 20 stories at a local construction site in what authorities described as an apparent suicide.
The protests did not emerge in a vacuum. The bitter dispute over Haredi conscription has been simmering for years, but it reached a boiling point after Hamas’s devastating attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. In the aftermath, there was a near-universal call within Israeli society for all citizens to share the burden of national defense. Many Israelis served for months on end in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere during the subsequent war. As the National Post notes, there is now a broad consensus among Israelis that the ultra-Orthodox should play a larger role in the nation’s security, given the scale of the threat Israel faces.
Yet, the numbers tell a story of deep resistance. Of the 19,000 draft summons issued to Haredim by early June 2025, only about 5%—a mere 996 men—reported to induction centers, according to the Israel Democracy Institute. Of those, just 1.2% (232 individuals) were actually conscripted. In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began arresting yeshiva students who ignored their enlistment orders. The recent detention of three such students last week appears to have crossed a red line for the ultra-Orthodox community, prompting the mass mobilization seen in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Dov Landau, a leading figure in Israel’s Lithuanian Haredi community and head of the Slabodka yeshiva in Bnei Brak, called for the large prayer assembly in response to the arrests. Speaking with Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Landau said, “I heard that a terrible incident took place in the Land of Israel. Yeshiva students were arrested. It seems to me, and if you think so, [we should] hold a large assembly of many prayers. It can help in every way, and if that’s what you think, then I think it’s the right thing to do right now,” according to Ynet.
The heart of the ultra-Orthodox argument against conscription is both spiritual and communal. Many Haredim believe that Torah study itself is a form of national defense—an essential pillar safeguarding the Jewish people. They fear that mandatory military service will lead to alienation from their tightly knit communities, exposing young men to secular influences and potentially eroding their religious commitments. In the words of the protest organizers, “Anyone who wishes to learn Torah should do so without restriction and without interruption, as it has been ruled that anyone who dedicates his life to Torah must not be burdened with any other burden, for they are the hope of our people.”
But for many secular and religious Zionist Israelis, the status quo is no longer tenable. The Associated Press reported that the divisions over the draft exemption have emerged as the most serious threat to Netanyahu’s government. The deep societal split is not just about military service; it’s about the very nature of citizenship, equality, and the relationship between religion and state in Israel. The government’s ability to find a path forward—one that balances the needs of national security with the sensitivities of the ultra-Orthodox community—may well determine its survival.
Political analysts point out that Netanyahu’s coalition relies heavily on ultra-Orthodox parties, making any move to strictly enforce conscription fraught with risk. At the same time, public pressure from other segments of Israeli society is mounting, especially from families whose children serve in the military. The situation is further complicated by the recent Supreme Court ruling, which has left the government with little room to maneuver.
The protests have not been without confrontation. As reported in The Hindu, demonstrators filled streets and even rooftops, chanting and, at times, clashing with police. The images of mass prayer and defiance in Jerusalem’s streets have become emblematic of the broader struggle now gripping Israeli society.
As the dust settles from the “million-man march,” the question remains: can Israel reconcile its competing visions of national service and religious devotion? The events of this past week suggest that the answer will not come easily. The coming months promise further legal battles, political brinkmanship, and, almost certainly, more public demonstrations.
For now, Jerusalem’s streets have returned to a semblance of normalcy, but the underlying tensions remain as raw as ever. With the government’s stability in question and the future of Israel’s social contract hanging in the balance, the eyes of the nation—and indeed, much of the world—remain fixed on what happens next.
