United Torah Judaism MK Yitzhak Goldknopf stood with his vehicle in the middle of Highway 1 on Wednesday evening and explained to journalist Aharon Rabinowitz: 'We are not blocking. Because they are arresting draft evaders, we are trying to see what 'arresting' means,' according to a report by reports.
MK Yitzhak Goldknopf (United Torah Judaism) stopped his vehicle in the middle of Highway 1 on Wednesday evening, creating a traffic disruption, and told journalist Aharon Rabinowitz that the action is not a blockade but a protest against the government's arrest of military draft evaders. 'We are not blocking. Because they are arresting draft evaders, we are trying to see what 'arresting' means,' Goldknopf said while standing by his car, as reported by The Zioneer. This incident marks the latest escalation in a protest that began earlier Wednesday, when Goldknopf led a slow-roll convoy on Highway 1, prompting police to deploy additional forces to manage the disruption.
Earlier Wednesday, The Zioneer reported that Goldknopf described the participants as 'fulfilling a mitzvah of protest' against the persecution of Torah study, with drivers instructed to maintain about 50 km/h. By 16:58 Jerusalem, the desk had reported Goldknopf's claim from inside the convoy that the government is arresting draft evaders 'who have done no wrong.' The stop-and-question maneuver on the highway represents a tactical shift from slow-roll disruption to a direct traffic-stopping action, which Goldknopf frames as observational rather than obstructive.
As The Zioneer has reported throughout the day, the protests are part of ongoing Haredi demonstrations against the enforcement of draft laws, which the community views as persecution of Torah study. The police have deployed additional forces to manage Highway 1 traffic, though no arrests or confrontations have been reported in connection with this action.
It remains unclear whether Goldknopf will face any law enforcement response for stopping his vehicle on the highway, and whether the protest will continue with further disruptions. The Zioneer will update as the situation develops.
5 developments
- DevelopingMK Goldknopf: Government is arresting draft evaders 'who have done no wrong'
- DevelopingUTJ MK Porush joins Jerusalem convoy protest against draft-evader arrests
- DevelopingMinister Goldknopf joins Gur Hasidic protest near Beit Lid, police block Route 57
- StrongShas MK Moshe Abutbul joins protest convoy on Highway 1
Source and signal
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