Jerusalem’s western entrance turned into a sea of black coats and banners on Thursday, as crowds of ultra-Orthodox Jews poured in for what organizers called the “Million Man March.” By early afternoon, the city was effectively shut down. Trains stopped running, roads were sealed and the Yitzhak Navon train station closed after tens of thousands arrived from across the country.
Videos circulating online showed what the day looked like from the ground: streets jammed with buses, a wall of chanting men and an overwhelmed police presence. In one clip that quickly spread across Israeli social media, Channel 12 correspondent Inbal Tvizer tried to deliver a live report while being bombarded with bottles and insults.
The government’s plan to draft ultra-Orthodox men into the army has divided Israel for decades. But this time, the tension boiled over. Demonstrators filled highways and junctions, waving signs declaring “We’ll die rather than enlist.” Highway 1, the main road to Jerusalem, was closed between Latrun and the city’s entrance. A police officer was injured near Motza after being hit by a bus reversing in the traffic chaos.
Then, in the late afternoon, tragedy struck. A 15-year-old boy fell to his death from the 20th floor of a construction site overlooking the protest area, as many young demonstrators had climbed into half-built towers to watch the rally from above. Emergency crews struggled to reach the site through the packed streets. The boy was found with critical injuries and pronounced dead at the scene. Police announced an investigation and ordered the rally to disperse.
The standoff playing out in Jerusalem began long before Thursday. For months, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition has been paralyzed by disputes over a new draft law. The Supreme Court ruled that the government could no longer fund yeshivas whose students avoid military service, forcing Netanyahu to act or face a constitutional crisis
.His ultra-Orthodox allies — Shas and United Torah Judaism — rejected any plan that would force their followers to serve. They threatened to bring down the coalition unless the government softened the bill. Inside the Knesset, Netanyahu replaced Yuli Edelstein, head of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, with Boaz Bismuth, a loyal Likud lawmaker. Bismuth drafted a new version that allegedly removed penalties, erased enlistment quotas and redefined who qualifies as Haredi. The bill is due to be discussed next week, after the prime minister asked for more time to review it.
Leaks of the document published by Israeli N12 set off a political storm. Opposition lawmakers and reservist organizations accused the government of abandoning the principle of equal service. “This is not a draft law — it’s a surrender,” one opposition member told Israeli radio earlier this week.
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If you’re able to travel to a protest, you’re able to travel to an induction center. If you’re able to march in the street, you’re able to march in basic training and defend the State of Israel
When the images of the protest spread, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid responded in a video statement that quickly went viral. “I want to say to all these young people, who went to this disgraceful ‘We’ll die rather than enlist’ demonstration in Jerusalem, if you’re able to travel to a protest, you’re able to travel to an induction center. If you’re able to march in the street, you’re able to march in basic training and defend the State of Israel.”
Lapid ended with a promise: “What has been, won’t be any longer. Everyone will enlist, everyone will work, everyone will defend the state.”
Across the street, Maj. (res.) Yoav Adomi, one of the founders of The Reservists, watched from the counterprotest his group organized near Binyanei HaUma. Speaking with The Media Line, he said the gathering was about drawing a line.
“The Reservists’ Party initiated this counterprotest against the Haredi demonstration opposing the draft law,” Adomi explained. “All the organizations representing those who serve joined us. Together we’re saying: enough. We will not let this disgrace continue.”
Adomi himself has served 350 days of reserve duty since the Gaza war began and expects another call-up in January. “Our chairman, Yoaz Hendel, has done 500 days and is still in uniform,” he said. “There are many like us. And yet next week the Knesset is set to advance a shameful law — the Bismuth law — 39 pages that say everything except the one thing that matters: that Haredim must enlist. It’s a bill that guarantees they never will.”
The Bismuth law — 39 pages that say everything except the one thing that matters: that Haredim must enlist. It’s a bill that guarantees they never will
He accused the government of being held hostage by its partners. “This is what happens when a government is slaughtered by non-Zionist forces,” he said. “What comes out is a non-Zionist coalition producing non-Zionist laws that harm the security of the state. It’s as simple as that.”
Adomi spoke quietly, surrounded by fellow reservists in faded uniforms and baseball caps. “The people who saved this country on Oct. 7 were reservists and civilians who stood up,” he said. “And they are the ones who will have to save it again — maybe in the next elections. We have no other country. The Zionist forces must unite to expand the IDF’s ranks and save the State of Israel. Nothing less.”
The people who saved this country on Oct. 7 were reservists and civilians who stood up. And they are the ones who will have to save it again — maybe in the next elections. We have no other country.
Asked about the paradox of the Ultra-Orthodox protesting a law that still protects their exemptions, Adomi gave a weary smile. “Even this law defines targets — targets that will never be met,” he said. “What they’re really doing is a show of strength. They’re saying: look at us, we will not enlist under any circumstances. I haven’t heard any of their rabbis say clearly that those who don’t study Torah should serve. Not once. If I heard that, maybe I could say something has changed. But it hasn’t.”
The rally in Jerusalem was not just a protest over a bill. It was a snapshot of a country still struggling to agree on what binds it together. After two years of war and loss, the divide between belief and duty has become impossible to ignore.
Whether the draft bill moves forward or stalls, the scenes from Thursday — of packed roads, chaos on construction sites, a dead teenager and reservists standing in quiet defiance — have already entered Israel’s collective memory. The question now is no longer who will serve, but whether the idea of serving together still means anything at all.