Thousands of Orthodox Jews Protest Around Israeli Consulate in NYC to Call for Change in Country’s Military Draft Rules
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews packed the streets and sidewalks for blocks around the Israeli Consulate in New York City on Sunday to protest issues including a potential end of an exemption for religious students from compulsory service in Israel’s military.
The protest at the consulate, a block from the United Nations campus in Manhattan, illustrated the complex relationship between Israel and segments of the large population of very religious Jews in New York and its suburbs.
The two influential, and often rival, grand rebbes of the Satmar community both called on adherents to participate in the demonstration.
The Central Rabbinical Congress of the U.S.A. and Canada, a consortium of Orthodox Jewish groups, said it helped organize the protest.
It comes after Israel’s Supreme Court last year ordered the government to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into the military. There had been a longstanding enlistment exemption — dating to the founding of Israel in 1948. (Read more from “Thousands of Orthodox Jews Protest Around Israeli Consulate in NYC to Call for Change in Country’s Military Draft Rules” HERE)
Photo credit: Screenshot via FNTV
