At least six protesters were arrested and a police officer was wounded in demonstrations protesting the arrest of a yeshiva student for ignoring a draft notice, the Times of Israel website reports today (August 18, 2014).
The demonstrations took place yesterday in Jerusalem and other cities with large haredi Orthodox populations. The hundreds of protesters blocked busy intersections during the demonstrations.
The yeshiva student has been arrested several times -- the first time last March -- for ignoring his call-up notice. He is being held in a military prison and reportedly has begun a hunger strike.
The student is affiliated with the Jerusalem Faction, a non-Hasidic haredi faction led by Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, who has ordered his students to ignore draft notices. The Tai Law -- which allowed haredi men to defer army service indefinitely -- was invalidated by the Israeli Supreme Court in February 2012, as many Reform and Conservative Jews felt it was unfair for them to be drafted, while ultra-Orthodox Jews were not drafted.
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