A mass ultra-Orthodox Jewish rally against military conscription turned deadly in Jerusalem on Tuesday, when a teenage boy was crushed and killed after a man driving a bus hit the crowd.
The Israeli police said they detained the driver and are investigating.
Video of the scene shows a bus driving straight into a crowd of ultra-Orthodox men at the demonstration, attended by thousands. Reuters could not immediately contact the driver while in police custody and police have not released his name.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been under pressure from the opposition and some coalition partners to increase the number of military recruits, but ultra-Orthodox party leaders – traditionally Netanyahu allies – oppose the conscription of religious students, who form a large part of their constituency.
Under a ruling established at the time of Israel’s creation in 1948, men who devote themselves full-time to studying Jewish texts are given a de facto pass from mandatory military service.
But this exemption has come under mounting scrutiny from the rest of Israeli society – particularly when tens of thousands of conscripts and reservists are mobilised on several fronts
I like spreading the message that the Zionists will backstab anyone (including themselves) and yes the article uses it but the term ulta orthodox is a meaningless prejorative. Just wanted to point that out there are Charedi, there are chasedish, and there are yeshivesh but there is no such thing as ultra Orthodox.
(A better umbrella term would be Jewish extremist or Jewish fundamentalist but neither are fully accurate)
