Ultra-Orthodox rioters injure 10 police officers, destroy several cars after attempted arrest of IDF draft dodgers in Jerusalem

Ten Israel Police officers were injured and four people arrested in violent clashes with rioters in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem on Thursday, after the attempted arrest of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers escalated into a riot with hundreds of participants.

The incident highlights the simmering tensions between the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) community and state authorities over the issue of the new IDF draft law, amid increased police enforcement against draft dodgers and escalating incitement against police and IDF among the Haredi public.

Israeli media reported that Thursday’s incident began when a municipal inspector issued a parking ticket to a young Haredi man near Jerusalem’s Bar-Ilan Street. The exchange between them became heated, and the Haredi man quickly asked for help from passersby.

The inspector was forced to call the police to help him. Once police officers arrived, crowds began attacking them.

Police car vandalized and garbage bins thrown at officers – riot in Jerusalem apparently following the arrest of a Haredi draft evader. pic.twitter.com/2yjU6UB6nM

— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) December 18, 2025

Most Israeli media outlets reported that police officers discovered that there were draft dodgers present and tried to arrest them, causing violent attacks against them. However, some outlets reported that this was only a rumor and that police only wanted to enforce the parking ticket.

With the atmosphere in the Haredi public having already been at a boiling point, the arrival of police officers triggered the cry of “the kidnappers have arrived” to reverberate through the community’s internal information systems, causing large crowds to descend upon the officers.

Rioters threw stones and garbage at the police, overturned one police vehicle and seriously damaged several others. The danger felt by the officers was demonstrated by the highly unusual use of crowd-control measures like tear gas grenades, while a water cannon truck and a helicopter were dispatched to the scene.

10 police officers were injured in a Haredi riot

Ben-Gvir: A red line has been crossed

Liberman: This is an act of terror

Lapid: Unimaginable government negligence

Golan: Netanyahu and Katz are to blame pic.twitter.com/zOCs8NMYLJ

— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) December 18, 2025

Ten officers were wounded, including some who had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. At least four rioters were arrested, the police said.

Police Commissioner Danny Levy vowed the police would “hold all those involved accountable.”

“I see the assault on police officers and inspectors by lawless rioters who stopped at nothing to harm officers and cause extensive property damage, with great severity.”

The incident drew strong condemnations from politicians. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is responsible for the police, “strongly” condemned the riot. “Attacking police officers by lawless citizens is a red line. I strengthen and fully back the Israel Police officers, who work day and night with dedication and determination to safeguard the security of Israel’s citizens and public order.”

“This is a matter of an inconceivable failure of the government and the collapse of all state institutions,” fumed opposition leader Yair Lapid.

“It cannot be that Haredi draft dodgers evade arrest in this way just because they resort to violence. The Defense Minister and the Prime Minister continue to encourage a factory of draft evasion and refusal on a historic scale,” he said.

Avigdor Liberman, head of Yisrael Beitenu, who has long pursued a hard-line policy demanding Haredis to enlist, said that “While the soldiers are fighting terrorists, the draft dodgers are attacking police officers. This is what happens when the country's leadership is in the pocket of the Haredi business community!”

“The attack on the police today is an act of terrorism in every sense!”

The riot followed several recent incidents where Haredi men managed to evade attempted arrests through intimidation and attacks against police officers.

Overnight, crowds of Haredi protesters prevented Military Police from arresting draft evaders in Ramat Hasharon and Herzliya.

Senior Rabbis have strongly condemned the recently increased number of arrests of Haredis, particularly those of full-time yeshiva students.

The heated atmosphere was highlighted by a comment by the spokesman for United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf, when the Times of Israel asked him for comment on Thursday afternoon.

He declined to comment directly on the riot, only sending a clip of an officer hitting Haredi men with a baton and commenting, “We saw this.”

Meanwhile, the Knesset’s Defense Committee continues to discuss chairman Boaz Bismuth’s latest draft bill, which has been roundly criticized by the opposition for lacking efficient enforcement mechanisms, while some of the Haredi MKs, as well as several other coalition members, oppose it for a variety of reasons.