Dozens of Haredi demonstrators reached the Tunnel Checkpoint on Sunday and started obstructing traffic paths while interfering with standard checkpoint functions.

Border Police officers from the Jerusalem periphery unit and Jerusalem District police officers are handling the situation at the location.

Ultra-Orthodox protests have grown more common over the past week after numerous detentions during a disturbance outside the residence of Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg on Wednesday night. This action responded forcefully to his directive for stronger enforcement against draft evaders.

Radical demonstrators inflicted notable damage by breaking windows, harming his vehicle, and trying to enter Sohlberg's home before attempting to escape.

Police reached the area soon afterward and started detaining dozens of people for disorderly behavior.

On Sunday the detained demonstrators appeared before the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, where 52 had their custody extended by four days.

Two additional demonstrators received orders for complete house arrest until Thursday along with bans on contact with others connected to the incident.

Another arrest occurred on Sunday involving a suspect linked to the disturbance. The individual, a man in his twenties from Beit Shemesh, was taken in for interrogation.

Anti-draft protests reach critical stage

In recent weeks before the disturbance, anti-draft demonstrators targeted police officers at their residences and blocked major roads in opposition to conscription.

The clashes occur amid intense pressure on the coalition to enact a draft-evasion statute and avert the Knesset's collapse.

After the prior draft arrangement lapsed in June 2023, the legal basis permitting thousands of eligible Haredi men to skip service ended, placing them in uncertainty.

The matter reached the High Court of Justice, which ordered the government to develop a fresh arrangement promptly.

Sohlberg, the focus of the demonstrators, issued a key decision on the topic in November 2025 stating that the state must act swiftly to create an effective policy for enforcing against Haredi draft evasion through criminal penalties and wider economic and civil steps.

This decision enabled further challenges regarding extensive benefits in areas such as daycare and schooling while the main case centered on criminal enforcement of evasion.