On Sunday, October 19, 2025, the heart of Midtown Manhattan was swept up in a remarkable show of unity and dissent as tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered outside the Israeli consulate to protest Israel’s controversial military draft law. The demonstration, which stretched for blocks and drew crowds from across New York and New Jersey, was one of the largest of its kind in recent memory—and it unfolded with both fervor and a surprising sense of order.
According to amNewYork, the protest began earlier in the afternoon, but by evening, the sidewalks and streets near 800 2nd Avenue, just a block from the United Nations campus, were packed with upwards of 10,000 Orthodox Jewish men. The rally, organized by the Central Rabbinical Congress and backed by both Satmar and Grand Rebbes, was held under the banner “The Cry of the Exiles.” Its purpose: to express spiritual solidarity with Torah students in Israel and to voice opposition to what participants called the “decree of forced enlistment.”
Chartered buses arrived from major Jewish communities—Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Monsey, Kiryas Joel, and Lakewood—turning the area into a sea of black coats and white shirts, the traditional attire of the ultra-Orthodox. Families, from children to seniors, climbed atop trash cans and bike racks to get a better view, as reported by JTA. The sheer number of demonstrators soon overwhelmed the sidewalks, spilling onto the roadways and causing traffic to crawl.
The background to this outpouring of protest is a contentious debate that has gripped Israel for decades, but reached a boiling point in the past year. In 2024, the Israeli Supreme Court unanimously ruled that haredi Orthodox Jews—who had long been exempt from military service due to their religious studies—must now be drafted, ending an arrangement dating back to the country’s founding in 1948. This decision, as AP noted, has deepened rifts within Israeli society, particularly since the onset of the war in Gaza. Many ultra-Orthodox worry that mandatory enlistment will erode their religious way of life, while other Jewish Israelis argue that the exemption is unfair, especially as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seeks 12,000 new recruits to meet wartime demands. Currently, about 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men in Israel are believed to be eligible for service.
The protest in New York was notable not only for its scale but for its passionate, yet largely peaceful, atmosphere. NYPD officers were deployed in force, attempting to keep the throngs from overrunning traffic. Metal barricades and police tape were used to corral the crowd, but as the evening wore on, some protesters pushed through, leading to several shoving matches. “Get back on the sidewalk, now!” one officer was heard shouting through a megaphone. Despite the chaos, police sources confirmed that no arrests were made.
Rabbinic leaders played a central role in both organizing and inspiring the crowd. The influential, and often rival, Grand Rebbes of the Satmar Hasidic sect—Rabbis Aaron and Zalman Teitelbaum—set aside their differences to urge followers to participate, a rare occurrence over the past two years, as AP and JTA highlighted. Other prominent rabbis and yeshiva heads from across the U.S. also addressed the rally. In a gesture of humility, speakers delivered their messages from a small mechanical lift, rather than a grand stage, taking turns to address the masses before descending back into the crowd.
Some of the most fiery speeches were delivered in Yiddish, with translations provided for the international media. Signs in the crowd captured the raw emotion: “We would rather die as Jews than live as Zionist soldiers,” and “Stop terrorizing religious Jews.” The message was clear: for many in the ultra-Orthodox community, the draft isn’t just a political issue—it’s a threat to their religious identity.
Rabbi Isaac Green, one of the protest’s organizers, put it bluntly: “Americans are unaware of Israel’s horrific treatment of Orthodox Jews. From night raids in Orthodox neighborhoods to checkpoints to arrests of Yeshiva students, Israel is persecuting the very religious people that it claims to protect,” he said, according to amNewYork and JTA. “Israel should not force Orthodox Jews to join an anti-religious army to fight wars against their religion.”
Other speakers echoed these sentiments, condemning what they see as coercion and calling on Israel to honor Torah study. The event concluded with a solemn Kabbalat Ol Malchut Shamayim—a communal recitation accepting the yoke of Heaven—led by the Bobov Rebbe, as reported by JFeed. Organizers hailed the demonstration as a powerful show of global unity in defense of religious study.
Yet, the protest also highlighted the complex relationship between Israel and the diaspora’s ultra-Orthodox communities. Rabbi Moishe Indig, a Satmar community leader, told AP that he was surprised by the turnout and expressed gratitude for the freedoms afforded in the United States: “I am appreciative of the governments in New York and the U.S. for giving us the freedom and liberty to be able to live free and have our children go to school and study and learn the Torah.”
The demonstration was not without its critics. Many Jewish Israelis, especially those serving in the military or with family members in the IDF, have long argued that the exemption for ultra-Orthodox men is a burden unfairly shouldered by the rest of society. The debate has only sharpened since the war in Gaza began, with public opinion polls in Israel showing growing support for universal conscription. Meanwhile, some secular and moderate religious Jews in the diaspora have voiced frustration that the protests focus solely on religious rights, without acknowledging the security needs facing Israel.
Still, for those gathered in Manhattan, the issue was non-negotiable. The mass rally was a vivid reminder that questions of faith, identity, and state power remain deeply intertwined—and fiercely contested—on both sides of the Atlantic. As the sun set over New York, the crowd slowly dispersed, but the echoes of their prayers and chants lingered, a testament to the enduring power of religious conviction and the complexities of Jewish life in the modern world.
As Israel continues to grapple with the challenges of war and social division, and as diaspora communities watch closely from afar, the events of October 19 served as a potent signal: the debate over the military draft is far from settled, and the voices raised in Manhattan will not soon be forgotten.
