JERUSALEM, Jan 6 (Reuters) – A mass ultra-Orthodox Jewish rally against military conscription turned deadly in Jerusalem on Tuesday, when a teenage boy was crushed and killed after a man driving a bus hit the crowd.
The Israeli police said they detained the driver and are investigating. Video of the scene shows a bus driving straight into a crowd of ultra-Orthodox men at the demonstration, attended by thousands. Reuters could not immediately contact the driver while in police custody and police have not released his name.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services said the 18-year-old, who had been trapped under the bus, was pronounced dead on the scene.
The debate over mandatory military service, and those who are exempt from it, has long caused tensions within Israel’s deeply divided society and has placed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under increasing political strain over the past year.
Ultra-Orthodox seminary students have long been exempt from mandatory military service. Many Israelis criticize what they see as an unfair burden carried by the majority who serve. The ultra-Orthodox resistance to joining the military is based on their strong sense of religious identity, which religious leaders say they fear risks being weakened by army service.
The issue of military service has been a central point of tension against a backdrop of heightened military activity. Over the past two years, Israel has seen its highest military death toll in decades from conflicts connected to the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran.
(Reporting by Emily Rose and Tamar Uriel-Beeri; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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