draft

As of April 1, some 66,000 haredim from 18-26 can -- at least technically -- be drafted into the army.

Benny Gantz threatened earlier this week to leave the government if an unsatisfactory conscription bill passes into law.

"We must not, God forbid, take them [the haredi Yeshiva students who do not study Torah all day to the army because they also pray and they also study,” the Rabbi said. 

Haredi party leaders warned that if the bill includes economic sanctions and recruitment quotas, they will leave the government.

Benny Gantz and some Likud members have expressed strong opposition to the proposed plan.

The draft, should it pass, would extend the exemption from IDF conscription for haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews.

The program lasts four weeks and includes full room and board.

A Jerusalem Post intern at the scene reported witnessing one of the Haredim at the protest blocking a car. The orthodox Jewish man persisted in blocking the vehicle even as it drove forward.

On Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said that conscription should apply to all members of Israeli society.

"We have a historic opportunity to expand the IDF’s recruitment sources at a time when the necessity is very high," IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said.