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Ultra-Orthodox Jews block Jerusalem roads in draft protests

Ultra-Orthodox Jews block Jerusalem roads in draft protests | iNFOnews.ca
Israeli police officers spray colored water towards ultra Orthodox Jewish men during a protest against their enlistment in the army at the entrance to Jerusalem, Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

JERUSALEM – Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews from a radical sect are again blocking roads in Jerusalem bringing traffic to a standstill and scuffling with police and passers-by.

Monday’s protest was the latest by the Peleg Yerushalmi group after some of its members were arrested when they did not go through procedures for draft exemptions granted to the ultra-Orthodox community.

Men in black hats and side locks mobbed intersections, preventing public buses and cars from moving.

Israeli TV showed footage of some men spitting and pushing a woman while yelling obscenities at her at a recent protest.

Police used a water cannon to disperse protesters and arrested 12 people.

Exemptions have long caused friction in Israeli society as most Jews are drafted after high school for three years.

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