Haredi protest organizers plan to block major roads in 19 cities starting at 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to journalist Yehuda Aharoni. The coordinated action targets the recent enforcement of IDF conscription and the arrest of draft evaders.
Haredi protest organizers are planning to launch vehicle convoys from 19 cities across Israel starting at 16:00 Wednesday, according to journalist Yehuda Aharoni. The coordinated action is intended to disrupt traffic in protest of the recent enforcement of IDF conscription and the arrest of draft evaders. The new details confirm the timing and scope of an action that has been anticipated since earlier patterns of Haredi protests over the draft bill.
As The Zioneer reported on Tuesday (Jun 23, 21:32 Jerusalem), initial plans for convoys from 19 cities heading toward Military Prison 10 were announced. Subsequent reports that evening identified the Gur Hasidic sect as a key organizer, with convoys departing from Beitar Illit, Bnei Brak, El'ad, and other towns. By the same time, Israeli media noted that over 2,000 vehicles had begun traveling at 50 km/h to cause major disruptions. A separate SAME-THREAD item from earlier Wednesday (08:06 Jerusalem) had forecast similar traffic delays in the same 19 cities for anti-government protests, linking the Haredi campaign to the wider protest calendar.
The current action follows weeks of Haredi protests, including highway blockades and train halts reported on Jun 11 (The Zioneer, 19:28 Jerusalem) after the Knesset advanced the draft bill. Those protests escalated into confrontations on Highway 4 (Jun 11, 19:10 Jerusalem) and a rare armed incident on Highway 6. As The Zioneer reported on Wednesday (07:03 Jerusalem), organizers earlier threatened to block roads if police disrupted the convoys.
It remains unclear whether police will issue official closure alerts for today's planned action, and whether the convoys will follow the same route toward Prison 10 as earlier reports indicated. The exact duration and extent of disruptions will depend on the response of security forces and the number of participants.
9 developments
- StrongHaredi protest organizers say they will block roads if convoys are disrupted
- StrongMajor traffic disruptions expected in 19 cities as anti-government protests resume
- StrongHaredi protesters block highways, halt trains across central Israel
- DevelopingHaredi protests spread to multiple cities after draft dodger arrests
Source and signal
- Internal intake