JERUSALEM, June 25 (UPI) -- About 5,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem protested government plans to draft them into a national civilian service or the Israeli military, police said.
Participants in the Monday protest smeared ash on their heads in a symbol of mourning over plans by the government to enlist them, The Jerusalem Post reported.
"We are the true soldiers of the Jewish people; anyone who leaves their place of study is a traitor," Rabbi Shmuel Shternbach, head of the ultra-Orthodox rabbinical court, said in reference to the thousands who study in yeshivas (Jewish schools).
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered the establishment of the Keshev Committee to create a new law to recruit ultra-Orthodox males into the army or national service programs. The committee was asked to draft a replacement for the Tal Law, which provided a legal framework for males in the ultra-Orthodox community to indefinitely defer military service for the sake of Torah studies.
In February, the High Court of Justice ruled the Tal Law -- due to expire Aug. 1 -- is unconstitutional, the newspaper said.
The national service would be an alternative to military service.
