Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis protest against conscription

Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis are taking part in a protest in Jerusalem against changes to a legal exemption for religious students from conscription in the military.

Almost all sects and factions of the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, community are taking part in what has been dubbed the “march of the million”.

Since the founding of Israel, students enrolled full-time at a religious school, or yeshiva, have been exempted from conscription, although some other members of the community do serve in the military.

Demands for them to play a bigger role have intensified during the war in Gaza.

Roads in and around Jerusalem were shut down before the start of one of the biggest anti-conscription protests by ultra-Orthodox Israelis in years.

It is bringing together disparate elements of the community, which makes up about 14% of the Israeli population.

What is uniting them is their opposition not only to moves to enforce conscription for more of their community, but also anger at hundreds of arrests in recent months of ultra-Orthodox men avoiding the draft.

The Haredi believe that their age-old way of life could be under threat.

But many in Israel feel they have not shared their fair burden in the war.

Bringing them into the military would help with a shortfall in manpower.

But there are also concerns in the military about conscripting large numbers of ultra-Orthodox – integration would be a difficult challenge, as well as accommodating the Haredi need to adhere to the strict code of their religious beliefs.