Yellow star and shocking shouts from the protest: 'Israel will fail, it is no less than the Germans'
Ultra-Orthodox protesters, demonstrating against the arrest of a draft dodger, blocked Highway 4 and caused massive traffic jams. They distributed yellow stars with the word 'Haredi' and compared military service to death in Nazi extermination camps, drawing sharp condemnation from the political establishment.
Shocking scenes were recorded on Wednesday at an ultra-Orthodox protest on Highway 4. Demonstrators distributed yellow stars with the word 'Haredi' written on them, compared IDF service to death in Nazi extermination camps, and claimed that the struggle over the draft 'will certainly end in the complete collapse of the State of Israel.'
One protester, Leib Cohen, stated that the star was meant to express 'an attempt by the Zionist State of Israel to eliminate the world of Torah and faith—no less than the Germans.' Another participant, Azriel Buchner, added: 'Faith is more important than life. It is better to die at the hands of a Nazi than to be in the army and become secular. This is the distilled truth, and we will not compromise.'
The political establishment reacted sharply to the cynical use of the yellow star. Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman called it a disgrace, stating that those who surrender to draft dodgers time after time do not dare to stand against their natural partners. Chili Tropper described the act as a desecration of the memory of the Holocaust and called for the state to stop funding the educational institutions of this extremist group.
Democrats chairman Naftali Bennett blamed the government: 'This is the legacy of the Netanyahu-Deri-Smotrich coalition that sold our fighters and reservists to ultra-Orthodox functionaries. We must close the tap: whoever does not serve the state should not receive a single shekel from it.' Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats, accused the Prime Minister and his partners of providing political backing to this disgrace while the serving public bears the burden of defending the country.
Earlier, Highway 4 was blocked due to protests against the arrest of an ultra-Orthodox draft dodger. While MK Moshe Abutbul (Shas) claimed the student was arrested after testifying in a fraud case, police sources stated he was a suspect who was handed over to the military police after it was discovered he was a deserter. Despite the Supreme Court striking down legislation intended to protect draft dodgers, actual arrests remain rare due to violent opposition in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.
