Jerusalem’s recent nights have been lit by flames, smoke and sirens. Ultra-Orthodox factions took over central junctions, blocked major roads, set trash bins ablaze, and turned the stretch from Bar Ilan Junction to Bar Lev Road into a corridor of standoffs and halts. The videos below show streets losing all restraint – marches on the asphalt, pushes against Border Police units, and a rain of objects thrown toward officers. The city tries to breathe, but the night keeps shrinking
Jerusalem’s Ultra-Orthodox Protest Over Conscription Law – This Is the Scene
According to police accounts, the same hotspots keep igniting: Bar Ilan Junction, Bar Lev Road, the Joint area, and North Begin. Events begin with prolonged blockages, shouts toward officers, and marches on traffic lanes. Official statements describe curses and insults, and the throwing of various objects – stones, wooden planks, bottles, and flowerpots – into the tense space between sidewalk and road. The effect is immediate: drivers brake hard, buses change routes, and traffic disruptions spread into surrounding neighborhoods
At a certain point, police declare an unlawful disturbance. An officer orders protesters to disperse; when the calls go unanswered, forces move to push and disperse the crowd. A Border Police officer was lightly injured by a thrown stone, and at least two suspects were arrested for stone-throwing. Bar Ilan Junction remains intermittently blocked, Bar Lev Road is sealed off at times, and traffic is redirected to alternate routes until the area calms
Conscription Law as the Flashpoint
Behind the burning streets stands the Conscription Law. Even when the chants in the street target police and blocked intersections, the debate over Ultra-Orthodox enlistment to the IDF is the fuse fueling the city’s tensions. The protests, moving between neighborhoods, flood Jerusalem with video footage of blockages, shoves, and pushes. Clips show moments when Ultra-Orthodox factions behave like street anarchists – flames in bins on one side, a tight line of Border Police advancing on the other
The Civilian Toll
The civilian cost is felt every night: ambulances slow down in search of open lanes, public transport lines are cut and delayed, and shopkeepers close early. Traffic lights keep blinking, but for long stretches the asphalt belongs to hundreds of protesters and the forces trying to reclaim control. Police reiterate their base message – the right to protest is preserved as long as the law is respected – and vow to act firmly against violence and breaches of public order in Jerusalem
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Whether one calls it a protest that lost control or nights of urban anarchy, the fine line is clear: the right to protest versus the right to move. The unanswered question for Jerusalem is not whether there will be more nights like these, but how they will look – and whether the city’s main arteries will return to being roads instead of push-and-pull arenas
