Haredi protests

Ya'akov Dori Street in Kiryat Ono, from Levi Eshkol Street to Shlomo Hamelech, is blocked in both directions, Israel Police said, urging drivers to take alternate routes.

“The young men who walked through those gates this morning show you can be fully committed to Torah study and still defend this country on the front line," said Lt.-Col. (res) Yossi Levi.

Traffic was disrupted at the entrance to Jerusalem on Saturday evening after Haredi protesters set up a series of roadblocks, police said.

According to the police, a 20-year-old had been caught driving a stolen car, after which it was determined that he was also a draft evader. 

Ahead of the protest, police said Highway 4 will be blocked between the Aluf Sade Interchange in Ramat Gan and the Em Hamoshavot Interchange in Petah Tikva.  

Malchieli has stated that yeshiva students should be able to defer service as long as Torah study is their occupation, and recently said he would "not ask for a collective exemption for haredim."

According to the police, the suspect is thought to have vandalized the cafe with graffiti, thrown garbage at it, and damaged the cafe's lock.

The suspect was released approximately half an hour later, before the Military Police could arrive, an organization that aids haredi draft dodgers stated.

Every weekend for the past six weeks, those who disapprove of the café being open on Shabbat have protested at the location, while supporters of the business held counterprotests.

According to N12, the protesters arrived in organized transportation, stood outside the new head's home, and distributed pashkevilim (broadsides or posters used by the ultra-Orthodox community).