Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) rioters have blocked traffic and set a fire in the middle of the road near Shabbat Square in Jerusalem, Israeli media reported early Friday morning.
Israel Police arrested two people, according to Israeli public broadcaster KAN News.
Footage circulating of the protests show police responding to the scene in force, assisting those stuck in traffic, and clearing protesters using both physical force and water cannons.
המשטרה: מפירי סדר חרדים חסמו נתיבי תנועה והציתו אש על הכביש באזור כיכר השבת בירושלים, שניים נעצרו
צילום: דוברות המשטרה pic.twitter.com/oHiqvjHjxd— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 18, 2026
On Thursday evening, light rail service was partially suspended between Jerusalem’s central bus station and Mount Herzl station due to haredim began protesting the arrest of a draft dodger earlier this week.
An additional demonstration was held in the area of Prison 10.
According to a Walla report, Shas MKs Michael Malkieli and Yonatan Mishraki are attending the demonstrations.
Some 10,000 protesters block two highways in protest of IDF haredi draft
Ultra-Orthodox protests against the arrest of draft dodgers and the haredi draft law have ramped up over the week, reaching their peak on Wednesday, when around 10,000 haredi draft evaders reportedly blocked Highway 57 eastbound at the Beit Lid and Kfar Yonah intersection.
The protests stalled traffic in the Sharon region for hours and led the Emek Hefer Regional Council to cancel all after-school activities.
According to the council’s statement, road closures are expected until 9 p.m. along Route 57, at Tnuvot Junction and Beit Lid Junction, and throughout the area.
Some of the protesters congregated outside of Military Prison 10, where some haredi protesters who attacked Supreme Court Deputy President Justice Noam Sohlberg’s house are being held. MK Yitzhak Goldknopf was in attendance.
The Jerusalem Faction (Peleg Yerushalmi) claims that recently, yeshiva students who were released from detention after being arrested during a protest outside Justice Solberg’s home have begun being transferred to the military.
Earlier that same day, draft protesters from the Jerusalem Faction temporarily blocked Highway 4 near Bnei Brak during the tail-end of the morning rush hour, deviating from their usual afternoon protest tactics.
Police officers successfully dispersed the protesters by approximately 10 a.m., after they had succeeded in blocking the highway in both directions.
Drivers of vehicles blocked by the protest exited their vehicles and confronted protesters, video footage from the scene seen by The Jerusalem Post appeared to show.
Five demonstrators were arrested, and two lightly injured and evacuated to Rabin Medical Center’s Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva to recieve medical treatement.
“We will not remain silent over the violence we absorbed this morning. This will have severe consequences,” a senior official in the Jerusalem Faction told Walla on Wednesday.
“We will shut down the country, and anyone who thinks they have seen it all is in for surprises. The struggle is only at its beginning, and our next steps will be far more significant.”
