Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered in West Jerusalem on Thursday for a mass protest against compulsory military service, local media reported. According to Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, the protest was called by Haredi rabbis and Torah student councils against what they describe as "an attack on the identity of religious society and an infringement on the freedom to study religion." “The people are with the Torah” and “Closing the yeshiva — a death sentence for Judaism,” read banners waved by protesters. The protest marks one of the largest religious demonstrations in the country’s history, KAN said. The daily Haaretz reported that the protesters chanted against the arrest of religious school students accused of evading compulsory military service in Israel. The protest is “a rare show of unity among Haredi factions (most notably Shas and United Torah Judaism), that are often deeply divided over politics and relations with the state,” it added. Police closed Highway 1, Israel’s main highway, completely over the protest, the outlet said.
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