Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis protest military draft

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Ultra-Orthodox Jews take part in a protest against Israeli army conscription in Jerusalem, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. Ultra-Orthodox leaders say they serve the Jewish nation through religious study and prayer and fear integration in the army threatens their insular, pious lifestyle.The sign on the left reads: "Israeli police: I'm also waiting for you at 3 a.m. There is no need for handcuffs" and on the right: "We and our sons are ready to die to preserve our souls and not enlist in the army." (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) (The Associated Press)

Ultra-Orthodox Jews take part in a protest against Israeli army conscription in Jerusalem, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. Ultra-Orthodox leaders say they serve the Jewish nation through religious study and prayer and fear integration in the army threatens their insular, pious lifestyle. The sign reads: "We and our sons are ready to die to preserve our souls and not enlist in the army." (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) (The Associated Press)

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews are protesting in Jerusalem over the military draft.

Tuesday's protest was one of several following the recent detention of a rabbi's son who refused to report to a draft office.

Exemptions are granted to ultra-Orthodox Jews who declare their values at a recruitment center. Those refusing to report can be detained.

Ultra-Orthodox leaders say they serve the Jewish nation through religious study and prayer and fear integration in the army threatens their insular, pious lifestyle.

Draft privileges go back to when Israel's founders granted exemptions to a few hundred gifted students to help rebuild the schools of Jewish learning destroyed in the Holocaust. But numbers have ballooned dramatically since then.

Exemptions have bred resentment among Israel's secular majority, whose children mostly serve after high-school.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/thousands-of-ultra-orthodox-israelis-protest-military-draft