A long-brewing battle over conscription exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish men is coming to a head. Facing a deadline set by the Supreme Court, the government has until the end of April to agree on a new military draft plan. Israel's ultra-Orthodox men have been protesting attempts to end the exemptions.
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00:00The ultra-Orthodox life is a deeply religious one.
00:03Their calling is to pray and to study the Torah.
00:06Many of the men brought their holy books with them to this protest.
00:11Picket signs here say they'd rather die than abandon their traditions.
00:15Those traditions have so far spared them from serving in the Israeli armed forces.
00:20All other Israeli Jewish men are supposed to serve at least 32 months and women 24,
00:25and most think the ultra-Orthodox should do the same now.
00:29But the men here who call themselves Haredi or Froma people
00:32don't even see themselves as Israeli.
00:35Nobody here is going to go to the army. They want to go to jail,
00:38and they're not going to go to the army.
00:40Are you against the war in Gaza right now?
00:43It's not the issue here, no. It's not the issue. It's not the issue.
00:48So you don't have an opinion on it?
00:50It's not the issue. They want us for years to make the Israelis.
00:54They see that the Haredi, the Froma people, they're growing,
00:59and they want us to be like them.
01:01And we want to live like our life, like we lived for many years,
01:04for hundreds of years, and we're not going to be going to the army.
01:07Haredi Jews see Israel as a secular country, which they say is in violation of the Torah,
01:12and therefore has no authority over them.
01:14The Jew is not allowed to enter Israel, make a state,
01:17until the Messiah comes, which we're waiting for him.
01:22That's what they did 80 years ago, and we're stuck with it,
01:24with all the problems that come with it.
01:27The protest began with prayers, but soon the younger men
01:30marched toward the nearby military recruitment office.
01:33A somewhat mismatched standoff ensues.
01:36The ultra-Orthodox are not pacifists.
01:42Things are heating up here at the protest in front of the IDF recruiting headquarters.
01:48Things were peaceful at the beginning,
01:50but especially the young people have come out to show their anger
01:54that they might have to be drafted and might have to join the IDF to fight in Gaza.
02:09Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relies on ultra-Orthodox parties
02:12to keep his ruling coalition together.
02:15Opposition parties like Yesh Atid say they should no longer get special treatment.
02:19The ultra-Orthodox community only makes up 13% of the population
02:22and they're reluctant to fight, and a reluctant soldier is not always a good soldier.
02:26So is it really in Israel's national interest to draft them into the military?
02:32Of course, now that we are at war, and the situation is very complex.
02:36We've seen this week what happened with Iran.
02:39We need more soldiers. This is a necessity.
02:42It's not something that is nice to have. It's a necessity.
02:46We need people to serve in the army, and it's the right and moral thing to do.
02:51So I'm sure if we sit down at the table,
02:54we can reach some sort of understandings in how to enlist these people
02:59because it's very, very important, and it's also a part of being an Israeli.
03:04Despite the regional conflict developing around them,
03:07life here in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem seems to go on undisturbed.
03:12They're determined to keep it that way.