A large gathering of ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis demonstrating against military drafts erupted into chaos today, as participants hurled bottles at a female journalist and a young boy tragically fell to his death.

An estimated 200,000 individuals, predominantly men, congested the roads surrounding Route 1 highway heading into Jerusalem. The scene was intense as many climbed onto rooftops, a gas station, and cranes, as captured in photos.

Video clips depicted the tense atmosphere, showing an angry crowd pursuing a female reporter from Israeli news outlet V1, ultimately throwing glass bottles in her direction, highlighting the escalating tension.

Amidst the unrest, demonstrators set tarpaulin pieces ablaze while hundreds of police officers worked to block several city roads. The protestors occupied rooftops, petrol stations, and bridges, raising signs that read, “Better to go to prison than to the army,” above the mass of fellow protesters below.

Crowds of men set fire to pieces of tarpaulin as hundreds of police officers cordoned off several roads across the city. 

Demonstrators packed onto the tops of buildings, petrol stations, bridges and balconies above a sea of fellow protesters, some of whom held signs declaring: ‘Better to go to prison than to the army.’

A helicopter flew overhead as people gathered to take part in collective prayers. 

The Israeli ambulance service said a 15-year-old fell to his death and police said they had opened an investigation into the incident.

Video footage showed the agitated crowd stalking a female reporter from Israeli news outlet V1 who was covering the event before chucking glass bottles at her

People react as Israeli mounted police disperse ultra-Orthodox Jewish men during a protest against conscription into Israel’s military in Jerusalem on October 30, 2025

Israeli police officers disperse ultra-Orthodox Jewish men blocking a road during a protest against plans to require them to serve in the Israeli military, in Jerusalem on October 30, 2025

The debate over mandatory military service, and those who are exempt from it, has long caused tensions within Israel’s deeply divided society and has placed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under increasing political strain over the past year.

Ultra-Orthodox seminary students have long been exempt from mandatory military service.  

Under a ruling established at the time of Israel’s creation in 1948, when the ultra-Orthodox were a small community, men who devote themselves full-time to the study of sacred Jewish texts are given a de facto pass from army service.

This exemption has come under mounting pressure since the start of the war in Gaza, as the military struggles to fill its ranks.

In June 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that the state must draft ultra-Orthodox men, declaring their exemption had expired.

A parliamentary committee is now discussing a bill expected to end the exemptions and encourage young ultra-Orthodox men who are not studying full-time to enlist.

Many Israelis fume at what they see as an unfair burden carried by the mainstream who serve.

That frustration only intensified during wars over the past two years that exacted the highest Israeli military death toll in decades as fighting stretched from the Gaza Strip to Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man stands in front of a police water cannon during a protest against plans to require ultra-Orthodox men to serve in the Israeli military, in Jerusalem on October 30, 2025

Police use a water cannon to disperse ultra-Orthodox Jewish men blocking a road during a protest against plans to require them to serve in the Israeli military, in Jerusalem on October 30, 2025.

This has added fuel to an already explosive debate over a new conscription bill that lies at the centre of a crisis rattling Netanyahu’s coalition, which took power in late 2022 for a four-year term.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders say full-time devotion to the study of holy scriptures is sacrosanct and fear their young men will drift away from religious life if they are drafted into the military.

‘Right now, people who refuse to go to the army are taken to military prison,’ said Shmuel Orbach, a protester. 

‘It’s not so bad. But we are a Jewish country. You cannot fight against Judaism in a Jewish country, it does not work.’

But last year the Supreme Court ordered an end to the exemption. Parliament has been struggling to draft a new conscription bill, which has so far failed to meet both the ultra-Orthodox demands and those of a stretched military. 

Two long-time loyal political allies, ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ), quit Netanyahu’s coalition government in July in a dispute over the new military draft legislation. 

Their exit left Netanyahu with an increasingly splintered coalition whose far-right members are unhappy about Israel’s ceasefire deal with Gaza’s dominant Palestinian militant group Hamas, brokered by the United States.

The door has been left open for the ultra-Orthodox parties to rejoin the coalition should the dispute be resolved. 

The debate over mandatory military service, and those who are exempt from it, has long caused tensions within Israel’s deeply divided society

Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up 14 per cent of Israel’s Jewish population, or about 1.3 million people

But reaching an accommodation acceptable to ultra-Orthodox political leaders may alienate many other Israelis as the country heads into an election year, and risks being shot down by the Supreme Court. 

Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up 14 per cent of Israel’s Jewish population, or about 1.3 million people, and roughly 66,000 men of military age currently benefit from the exemption.

According to an army report presented to parliament in September, there has been a sharp increase in the number of ultra-Orthodox Jews enlisting, but the numbers still remain low, at a few hundred over the past two years.

Surveys over the past two years have consistently predicted Netanyahu’s coalition would lose the next ballot.