Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis converged on Jerusalem on Thursday for a mass demonstration against efforts to enlist some of them in the military, a protest that is likely to deepen divisions in a country reeling from two years of war.
Huge crowds of protesters chanted prayers and shouted slogans against the secular state outside prominent ultra-Orthodox institutions and blocked many of the city’s main thoroughfares.
The show of force comes as the Israeli government attempts to find a legal and political compromise to end the decades-old practice of granting exemptions from military service to most ultra-Orthodox seminary students.
That privilege has long stirred widespread public resentment that has become more acute since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Hundreds of soldiers have died in those conflicts, and tens of thousands of reservists have served multiple tours of duty.
Military service is compulsory in Israel for most Jewish 18-year-olds, both men and women.
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last year that there was no legal basis for allowing the military exemptions and that, in the absence of new legislation, the army must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish men.
The military has said that it needs 12,000 more soldiers to fill its ranks. Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men of draft age do not serve.
Leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community, known in Hebrew as the Haredim, or “those who tremble before God,” have called the demonstration on Thursday a “march of the million” and advertised it as a prayer vigil rather than a protest.
The Haredim argue that the military, as a secular institution, is not able to support their strictly observant lifestyle. They say that they contribute to the nation’s security and protection through study and prayer.
One demonstrator, standing in front of a mural featuring portraits of Israeli hostages recently released from Gaza, held a banner that read: “God of the Jews, Please save all the Jews from the immodest and promiscuous army.”
Another banner quoted the words of a prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbi saying, “A boy who enlists in the military is evading service in the Lord’s army and is betraying the God of Israel.” It added: “His punishment will be great.”
The military has sent out thousands of draft notices to young Haredi men in recent months, pending new legislation, but most did not show up to be enlisted. A small number were arrested as draft dodgers, further inflaming Haredi sentiment against the military and state authorities.
Many Israelis were outraged by Haredi leaders who characterized the arrests as being “for the crime of studying Torah,” rather than for evading being drafted.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long relied on the support of ultra-Orthodox parties to remain in power. The government is working on a version of a bill that aims to go some way toward addressing the military’s needs while keeping Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing and religiously conservative coalition intact.
Critics of the proposed bill say it would continue to allow most ultra-Orthodox Israelis to avoid being drafted, with low quotas for enlistment and minimal, delayed sanctions imposed on those who do not comply.
The gathering in Jerusalem is centered around the western entrance to the city and has caused major disruptions. A long section of the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway was closed in both directions to all traffic except for buses ferrying demonstrators and the city’s train station was shut.
The founders of modern Israel exempted Haredi seminary students from military service when the state was created in 1948, in part to try to rehabilitate the ranks of Torah scholarship that were decimated in the Holocaust.
At that time, there were only a few hundred such students, but the Haredim now make up at least 13 percent of Israel’s population of 10 million.
The anguished national debate over enlisting the Haredim goes to the heart of a culture war in Israel around religious and cultural identity. Many mainstream Israelis accuse the ultra-Orthodox of enjoying government benefits while shirking the burdens of citizenship.
Opposition to the draft among the Haredim is also a point of contention within Mr. Netanyahu’s government, and threatens to split it. The non-Haredi, observant Jews in his coalition represent some voters who see military service as sacred, saying that they are able to combine studying the Torah with their duties.
Yair Lapid, a centrist and secular opposition leader, said this week that 40 percent of the Israeli soldiers killed in battle over the past two years wore skullcaps, suggesting that there were varying degrees of religious observance within the military.
Isabel Kershner, a Times correspondent in Jerusalem, has been reporting on Israeli and Palestinian affairs since 1990.
David M. Halbfinger is the Jerusalem bureau chief, leading coverage of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. He also held that post from 2017 to 2021. He was the Politics editor of The Times from 2021 to 2025.
Natan Odenheimer is a Times reporter in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
David Guttenfelder is a Times visual journalist based in Minneapolis.
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