Thousands march in Jerusalem for jailed Haredi draft evaders, cash offered

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox men took part in a procession through Jerusalem on Tuesday evening, September 29, 2026, honouring members of their community who had been held in military prison for refusing to enlist in the army. The Times of Israel reported that the march set out from the Geula neighbourhood and that a number of nearby streets were shut while participants assembled to greet the released men.

Organisers told the news site Ynet that the released men would be given a cash grant, according to a Ynet alert issued during the evening. Ynet's fuller report described crowds cheering along the route, police closing all streets in the area, and signs and slogans that called the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) the "enemy army" and referred to detained deserters as "hostages". Opposition politicians condemned the event, Ynet said.

How much money, and from where

The reports do not agree on the size of the payments. The Times of Israel, citing Channel 12 news, said about 100 former military prisoners had been invited and roughly 50 of them came, and that Channel 12 expected each to receive several hundred shekels. The same Times of Israel report said Ynet put the figure at around NIS 1,000 (about $310) per person and that Ynet reported the funds originated abroad.

Posts on the Telegram news channel of N12, the website of Channel 12, carried footage credited to the group Achim Anachnu (Hebrew for "we are brothers"). According to the N12 post, the footage showed Rabbi Yehuda Tzedaka handing envelopes containing 1,000 shekels to each deserter. The difference between the several-hundred-shekel figure attributed to Channel 12 and the 1,000-shekel figure in the N12 posts and in Ynet's reporting is not explained in the material.

Gift bags and slogans

Ynet reported that children at the event received surprise bags carrying a message saying the recipients had been privileged to sit in prison. The Jerusalem Post headlined its report with a slogan seen at the march, "Rather die than be drafted", and described thousands of people filling the streets. Additional video from the procession was posted by N12, credited to the account Shkifut (Hebrew for "transparency").

Political reaction

Avigdor Liberman, chairman of the opposition party Yisrael Beytenu, called for an immediate inquiry into who was behind the handing out of money to deserters at the march. In a statement carried by N12, he said participants were waving signs against the IDF and demeaning soldiers, and he demanded that the prime minister and the defence minister condemn what he called "this disgrace" that same evening. The reports do not include a response from the prime minister, the defence minister or the organisers.

Background: the Haredi draft dispute

Haredim, as ultra-Orthodox Jews are known in Israel, have long been at the centre of a national argument over military service. Most Jewish Israelis are conscripted into the IDF, but many Haredi men have for years avoided service, often by pursuing full-time religious study in yeshivas (seminaries). Supporters of that arrangement see Torah study as a form of national service and fear that army life would erode religious observance. Critics, including parties such as Yisrael Beytenu, argue that the burden of service should be shared equally.

When a man ordered to enlist fails to report, the army can treat him as a deserter, and some are arrested and held in military prison. Within parts of the Haredi community, those detained are regarded as having suffered for their faith rather than as offenders, which is the view the Jerusalem march was organised to express. Geula, where the procession began, is a predominantly Haredi district in central Jerusalem and a frequent site of community gatherings and protests.

Events like this one sit at the sharp end of that argument. Public celebration of men jailed for refusing service, together with reports of cash rewards, drew condemnation from opposition figures who see it as an open challenge to the army's authority.

What the reports do not say

• No report gives a precise crowd count beyond "thousands" or "several thousand".
• The amount paid to each released man is disputed, and it is not stated how many actually received money.
• Ynet's report that the money came from abroad does not identify who provided it.
• The reports do not say who organised the march beyond the rabbi seen handing out envelopes.
• There is no word on whether police or other authorities are examining the payments, or on any official government response to Liberman's demand.