A mass rally by ultra-Orthodox Jews against military conscription turned deadly in Jerusalem on Tuesday when a teenage boy was killed after a bus drove into the crowd.
Israeli police said the driver was detained, and an investigation is underway. An 18-year-old who became trapped beneath the bus was pronounced dead at the scene by Magen David Adom emergency services.
Video footage from the scene showed a bus driving into a dense crowd of ultra-Orthodox men attending the protest, which had drawn thousands. Police have not released the driver’s identity, and he could not be reached for comment while in custody.
The demonstration was part of ongoing protests against legislation that would require ultra-Orthodox men to serve in the Israeli military. The issue has intensified as the army faces manpower shortages following two years of fighting on multiple fronts.
Police said the protest escalated after a small group of participants began violently disrupting public order. According to a statement, rioters blocked roads, damaged buses, set rubbish bins on fire, threw objects and eggs at police and border officers, shouted abuse and assaulted journalists.
Police said the bus involved in the incident had been blocked by protesters who were obstructing the route. The driver, who was arrested at the scene, told investigators that he had been assaulted by rioters before the incident occurred.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure from opposition figures and some coalition partners to expand military recruitment. Ultra-Orthodox parties, which have traditionally supported Netanyahu, oppose the conscription of religious students, who form a significant share of their voter base.
Since Israel’s founding in 1948, men engaged in full-time religious study have been effectively exempt from compulsory military service. That exemption has faced growing criticism, particularly as tens of thousands of reservists have been mobilised during the conflict, despite a fragile truce that ended the war in Gaza.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews account for about 14% of Israel’s Jewish population. Their political support is crucial to the stability of Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition.
In November, a new draft law was introduced in parliament’s foreign affairs and defence committee after an earlier conscription bill was rejected in July.
Following that vote, the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party withdrew from the government, leaving Netanyahu’s coalition with a slim majority of 60 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Ministers from the Shas party also resigned from the cabinet over the issue, though the party has not formally exited the coalition.
