200,000 ultra-Orthodox men protest looming IDF enlistment in massive Jerusalem rally

Approximately 200,000 ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) men attended the “Million Man Rally” in Jerusalem on Thursday, protesting heightened enforcement of draft orders and proposed legislation that could compel more of them to enlist in the military.

On the sidelines of the rally, protesters violently clashed with police and harassed female – and perceived left-wing – journalists. In a separate incident, a young Haredi man reportedly jumped to his death from a nearby construction site, prompting organizers to declare the rally over.

The site, set to be Jerusalem’s tallest building, was breached by hundreds of religious men despite being closed off by police. Some young men climbed to the upper floors and onto cranes.

צוותי חדשות 12 הותקפו באלימות בקרשים ובקבוקים בהפגנת החרדים נגד הגיוס בירושליםhttps://t.co/PhHdO71XvI | @inbartvizer pic.twitter.com/sn5Q7dPwhx

— החדשות - N12 (@N12News) October 30, 2025

Magen David Adom emergency paramedics were forced to declare the 20-year-old man dead. Police are investigating the incident as a possible suicide.

The demonstration was called by a rare alliance of several senior rabbis from multiple ultra-Orthodox streams and was billed as a prayer rally, as the leaders were unable to agree on a unified political message regarding the Draft Law.

Instead of a main stage with speakers, each senior rabbi was assigned an area where his followers were to pray and recite portions from the Book of Psalms together.

Jerusalem, this morning. IDF soldiers pass ultra-Orthodox men on their way to protest against the conscription law — a protest that forced Jerusalem’s central train station to shut for most of the day.

The video was taken by @Yehonchi, who finished today another around of IDF… pic.twitter.com/2Pj6kdkzp4

— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) October 30, 2025

“I came to Jerusalem to cry out,” Yehuda Yosef, a resident of Beit Shemesh, told Ynet News. “Thousands of yeshiva students are at risk. We must stay in our yeshivas and stand firm. The world exists because of Torah, and we’ll follow our rabbis no matter what the Knesset decides.”

The rally took place against the backdrop of intensified discussions about a new IDF Draft Law in the government coalition, which is set to present the new bill proposal next week.

The new wording by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth is said to have grudging support from the Sephardic Haredi factions, led by the Shas Party, as well as the “Lithuanian” Degel Hatorah faction of United Torah Judaism (UTJ).

However, the “Hasidic” Agudat Yisrael faction of UTJ has signaled its opposition.

Meanwhile, recent months have seen a rise in the enforcement of draft orders, with police arresting around 870 men – still only about 7% of the 6,975 officially listed as draft dodgers.