Two arrested as Haredi draft opponents try to enter Bnei Brak Kodkod building

Police arrested two people in Bnei Brak on the evening of October 14, 2026, after a crowd of ultra-Orthodox men and boys tried to force their way into a building used by Kodkod, a program that brings Haredi recruits into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The Times of Israel reported that footage showed dozens of protesters attempting to break in while people inside stood at the doors to keep them out, and security staff and police grappled with the crowd outside.

According to police, as cited by The Times of Israel, the two detainees were taken into custody for questioning and the disturbance later ended. Ynet reported that the people involved were Haredim opposed to military conscription and that they clashed with officers outside the building where Kodkod soldiers are based. The Jerusalem Post also reported the two arrests, describing the target as an IDF office belonging to the Kodkod program.

What Kodkod is

The reports describe the program in slightly different terms. Ynet called it a prestigious technology project intended for Haredi men aged 23 and over who are not suited to combat roles. The Times of Israel described it as a Defense Ministry program for ultra-Orthodox soldiers serving in military intelligence. The Jerusalem Post referred to it as an IDF program. These descriptions are not necessarily in conflict, but the sources do not set out the same picture of who runs the program or exactly what its soldiers do.

The sources also vary in how they describe the site itself. Ynet and its alerts channel refer to a building that houses a unit for integrating Haredim into the army, The Times of Israel calls it an office building, and a social media post embedded in the Times of Israel report described it as a base.

Bnei Brak and the Haredi draft dispute

Bnei Brak is a city in central Israel, close to Tel Aviv, with a largely Haredi population. Haredi, often translated as ultra-Orthodox, refers to the strictly observant Jewish communities whose life centres on religious study and rabbinic authority. Many in these communities regard full-time Torah study as a religious obligation that should not be interrupted by military service.

Military service is compulsory for most Jewish Israelis, but Haredi men have for decades been able to defer or avoid it through arrangements tied to yeshiva study. Whether and how they should be drafted is one of the most divisive questions in Israeli politics and society. Programs such as Kodkod, which are built around the needs of religious recruits, are one of the ways the military has tried to bring Haredi men into uniform. Within parts of the Haredi community, those programs are themselves seen as a threat, and opposition to them has at times turned into street protest.

The rabbinic letter

Ynet placed the incident roughly a month after what it described as a sharply worded letter from members of the Council of Torah Sages of Agudat Yisrael. Agudat Yisrael is a Haredi political movement, and its Council of Torah Sages is the body of senior rabbis that guides its positions. Ynet did not quote the letter in the material available, and none of the reports state that the letter called for any action at the Bnei Brak building or that those arrested were connected to it. The link drawn by Ynet is one of timing.

How the evening unfolded

The sequence across the reports is consistent. Ynet's alerts channel first reported that people it described as extremist Haredim were trying to break into the building, and a later alert said two rioters who had tried to enter had been arrested. The Times of Israel, citing footage, reported the scuffles at the entrance and the police statement that the riot was over. The Jerusalem Post published a photograph of the protest credited to Walla, another Israeli news site.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports name the two people who were arrested or say whether they have been charged. They do not say whether anyone was hurt, whether the protesters got inside the building at any point, or whether there was damage to the property. The reports give no figure for the size of the crowd beyond the word dozens, and they do not say how many police officers responded.

The sources do not identify who organised the protest, if anyone did, or whether it was connected to a particular Haredi faction. No statement from the IDF, the Defense Ministry or Kodkod itself appears in the material. It is also not stated whether the soldiers in the building were there at the time, or whether the program plans any change to its security arrangements.