Israeli highways reopened Wednesday evening after haredi (ultra-Orthodox) demonstrators blocked highways 1 and 4 in mass nationwide anti-IDF draft protests.
N12 News announced that the protests concluded after thousands of haredim, including MK Yitzhak Goldknopf (United Torah Judaism) and MK Michael Malkieli (Shas), participated in Wednesday’s demonstrations, which lasted over four hours.
ח”כ גולדקנופף מוביל את שיירת המוחים בכביש 1 – עם רכבו הממשלתי כאשר הצ’קלקה דולקת@amit_segal pic.twitter.com/V0VAnkNz1d
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) June 24, 2026
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel Police observed protesters exiting their vehicles at Harel Interchange on Highway 1 and entering traffic lanes on foot. Officers noted that this was contrary to the agreed-upon method of protest with the organizers and have since deemed the protests illegal.
Heavy traffic was also reported on 28 other major roads, according to Maariv.
Highways 2, 6, 7, 20, 40, 41, 57, 65, 70, 443, 444, and 531 also experienced heavy traffic disruptions related to the protests.
According to organizers, the convoys traveled along major routes, including highways 1, 4, and 6; the Aluf Sadeh Interchange and the Ganot Interchange in the Center; Bar Ilan Street and the Chords Bridge area in Jerusalem; and the Elad Junction.
The convoys departed from Jerusalem, Elad, Ashdod, Tiberias, Betar Illit, Beit Shemesh, Bnei Brak, Givat Ze’ev, Haifa, Hatzor Haglilit, Modin’in Illit, Nof Hagalil, Netanya, Arad, Safed, Kiryat Gat, and Rehovot.
Vehicle convoys departed from dozens of locations for the demonstration, which was organized by Agudat Yisrael, part of the UTJ Knesset faction, as other groups within the haredi community, including the Jerusalem Faction (Peleg Yerushalmi), are expected to join the widespread protest on major roads and highways.
Channel 12 also reported that protesters in Ashdod blocked a bus carrying IDF soldiers.
Violent scuffles break out at ultra-Orthodox anti-draft protests
Footage emerged earlier on Wednesday of several physical altercations between haredi protesters and passersby. In one fight, a passerby attempted to prevent a demonstrator from blocking a road.
In Arad, protesters and local secular citizens scuffled. In one video seen on social media, a secular citizen of Arad can be seen trying to whip draft protesters with what appears to be a phone charger.
מחאת החרדים: עימותים אלימים ברחבי הארץ עם מפגינים | תיעוד@daniel_grovais pic.twitter.com/1I3xsKJ7sA
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 24, 2026
According to Maariv, Deputy Mayor of Beitar Illit and Chairman of the Hasidic faction, Rabbi Gedaliyahu Eisenstein, was among those attacked at the incident in Arad.
Arad Mayor Yair Maayan then called on residents to “act with restraint and mutual respect, and to refrain from violent activity among residents.”
In a separate incident, a pregnant woman was seriously injured on Highway 1 after her vehicle hit a protester’s vehicle, Israeli media reported.
In another video, an Israel Police officer physically confronted haredi protesters after they blocked a tunnel, causing major traffic delays.
הפרגוד: שוטר מכוון נשק לעבר חרדי לפני כמה דקות pic.twitter.com/sA4ZwfQELG
— הפרגוד (@moshepargod) June 24, 2026
Additional haredi draft evader protests could break out well into the evening
Police sources do not rule out the possibility that the haredi Jerusalem Faction may also attempt to hold impromptu protests this evening, in light of an unofficial message circulating on social media.
The stated goal of the protest was to bring about the “immediate release of all detainees of the Torah world,” to halt the arrests, and to revoke what they define as “decrees against Torah students and their families,” according to a statement released by the organizing committee.
“We will not sit idly by while our brothers are behind bars for the crime of studying Torah,” the statement added.
The convoy organizers called on the haredi public and its supporters to join the protest, which they said was intended to send a sharp message to the government and the defense establishment regarding enlistment policy.
Sources in the defense establishment maintain that this is the enforcement of existing law, as determined by government decisions and court rulings.
