Two female Israeli soldiers had to be rescued by police after being chased by a crowd of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men.
Footage from the city of Bnei Brak showed the women running through streets strewn with rubbish and overturned bins as police officers formed a protective barrier. More than 20 people were arrested.
Reports suggest the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were wrongly believed to be trying to deliver army conscription orders. Military service is mandatory for most Jewish Israelis, but ultra‑Orthodox Jews have long been exempt. Moves to reform this have caused outrage among the community.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the incident as “unacceptable”.
Riot police in Bnei Brak, on the edge of Tel Aviv, intervened to rescue two female soldiers after being chased by a crowd of ultra-Orthodox men. Police used stun grenades and pepper spray to disperse the crowd, they said in a statement.
Protests broke out after the two female soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces entered a neighborhood to deliver draft notices, triggering outrage on the streets.
Demonstrators burned garbage, blocked roads, overturned a police vehicle and set a motorcycle ablaze.
Footage from the city of Bnei Brak showed the two women running through streets strewn with rubbish and overturned bins as police officers formed a protective barrier.
More than 20 people were arrested after police safely evacuated the soldiers amid escalating confrontations, police said, adding three officers were injured and several police vehicles damaged.
Responding to the violence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the riots as “unacceptable”.
“This is an extreme minority that does not represent the broader Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community,” Netanyahu said in a post on X.
“We will not allow anarchy, and we will not tolerate any harm to IDF servicemen and security forces who carry out their duties with dedication and determination.”
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