Support for the masses of ultra-Orthodox demonstrating against enlistment in the Zionist army and exposing the service for ultra-Orthodox capitalists by their political representatives
The position of the ISL 17.02.2026
Two days ago, there was a militant demonstration by the poor ultra-Orthodox masses following a provocation in which female soldiers in skirts were sent to Bnei Brak to visit an ultra-Orthodox man who was thinking of enlisting in the murderous army. The female soldiers said they opposed this step, which was forced upon them. Against the backdrop of the war, the riots in Bnei Brak are the culmination of the ultra-Orthodox alienation from Zionist society and the Zionist army of war criminals.
A video from the streets of Bnei Brak shows policemen using a lot of force against the ultra-Orthodox who responded to the provocation.
The ultra-Orthodox rabbis and elected officials who serve the ultra-Orthodox financiers immediately condemned what they called a lynching, and they joined Prime Minister Netanyahu’s condemnation of Levin and Smotrich. The entire Zionist opposition also loudly condemned the demonstration as riots by an incited mob.
Netanyahu is trying with all his might to pass a law that will encourage the integration of the ultra-Orthodox into the army and Zionist society. This law is a lie in all directions. It is not only a bluff in the eyes of the serving public, including religious Zionism, a member of the government. It is also unacceptable to the ultra-Orthodox, as evidenced by the crowd in the streets of Bnei Brak.
The normative ultra-Orthodox position of the ultra-Orthodox masses is much more consistent than the position of the ultra-Orthodox elected officials, certainly from the position of the Shas party, and also from the position of the Lithuanian Knesset members, who show a general line of support for the formulation of a law. The maximum of the corrupt in the coalition, who are really willing to sell the masses of the ultra-Orthodox. About 1.5 million ultra-Orthodox live in Israel, a significant number of whom are below the poverty line. Money and wealth are almost coarse words in ultra-Orthodox society which is characterized by deliberate separation from the outside world in order to protect itself from the penetration of values that are unacceptable to it. The ultra-Orthodox communities are confined to separate cities and neighborhoods, and include a unique education system as well as media outlets dedicated to the sector precisely for this purpose.
There is no single official list of “ultra-Orthodox billionaires,” but there are prominent ultra-Orthodox businessmen who have amassed significant wealth in real estate, energy, communications, and finance while maintaining an ultra-Orthodox lifestyle. Prominent figures in this context often include businessmen who operate in both the international arena and Israel, such as Dan Gertler (resource mining) and Shlomo Rechtsper, as well as large real estate entrepreneurs, and also heavily involved in the diamond business.
The masses of the ultra-Orthodox, most of whom are extremely poor, are unwilling to enlist and are not interested in integrating into Zionist society, not under such quotas or under other conditions. They know what happened to religious Jews who served in the Russian army of Nikolai.
Religious Jews, mainly boys and children known as “Cantonists,” were forcibly conscripted into the army of Tsar Nicholas I (1827–1856) for long periods, where they underwent lengthy attempts to convert them to Christianity, which included rigid military education, separation from the community, and often heavy physical and mental pressure.
The decree of the cantonists (abduction of children): The Tsar also extended conscription to Jewish children aged 12-17 in order to place them in military frameworks (“cantons”) and convert them to Christianity. The Jewish communities experienced deep trauma as a result of the abduction of the children, sometimes with the backing of community leaders, which undermined trust in the leadership.
Attempts at forced conversion: The young Jewish soldiers were sent to remote military boarding schools with the declared goal of converting them to Christianity, breaking their Jewish identity and converting them. Some of the Cantonists did convert to Christianity, voluntarily or coercively, and integrated into Russian society.
Soldiers who have completed long service, especially those who have been appreciated, have sometimes received a residence permit outside the “area of residence” (e.g., in Moscow or St. Petersburg), and some have become integrated and influential. The cantonist system was abolished in 1856 by Tsar Alexander II.
The poverty rate among the ultra-Orthodox in Israel is high, with about 52% of the population below the poverty line, with the main factors being a combination of low-wage employment, part-time work, and the choice of many men to study Torah instead of work. Not serving in the army is not a quantitative matter, but an existential matter of principle. While the rabbis for the most part serve the capitalists who donate to the ultra-Orthodox society in order to reduce the hostility against them, while they exploit the ultra-Orthodox workers super much.
The International Socialist League supports the struggle of the masses of the ultra-Orthodox who oppose the enlistment in the Zionist army of war criminals, and see the poor ultra-Orthodox as potential allies of the Palestinians and a potential for integration into the Palestinian struggle for a red Palestinian state from the sea to the river, in which the ultra-Orthodox will enjoy religious and linguistic-cultural rights.