Teenager killed by bus during ultra-Orthodox protest against military conscription in Jerusalem

Israeli police said the bus driver was taken into custody and an investigation is underway.

Footage from the scene shows a bus driving directly into a dense group of ultra-Orthodox men attending the protest, which drew thousands of participants. Reuters was unable to immediately reach the driver while he remained in police custody, and authorities have not disclosed his identity.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said the 18-year-old victim had been trapped beneath the bus and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews had gathered to protest a law requiring them to serve in the military, as Israel’s army seeks to address manpower shortages following two years of fighting on multiple fronts. Protests against the conscription law have been occurring frequently in recent months.

According to a police statement, the demonstration escalated after “a small group of rioters began severely disrupting public order,” including blocking roads, damaging buses, setting garbage bins on fire, throwing objects and eggs at police and Border Police officers, shouting insults, and attacking journalists present at the scene.

Police said the bus “was obstructed by rioters who were blocking the roadway.” The driver was arrested and told investigators that he had been assaulted by rioters before the deadly incident occurred.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced mounting pressure from opposition lawmakers and some coalition partners to expand military recruitment. However, leaders of ultra-Orthodox parties — long-time allies of Netanyahu — strongly oppose drafting religious students, who represent a significant share of their voter base.

Under an arrangement dating back to Israel’s founding in 1948, men engaged full-time in religious studies have effectively been exempt from mandatory military service.

That exemption has increasingly come under criticism from wider Israeli society, particularly as tens of thousands of conscripts and reservists have been mobilized across several fronts, even amid the fragile ceasefire that ended the war in Gaza.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews account for approximately 14% of Israel’s Jewish population.

Maintaining the support of ultra-Orthodox parties is critical to the survival of Netanyahu’s right-wing governing coalition.

In November, a new draft bill was introduced in the Knesset’s foreign affairs and defense committee after a previous conscription proposal was rejected in July.

The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party left the government over that legislation, leaving Netanyahu’s coalition with only 60 of the 120 seats in parliament. Ministers from the other major ultra-Orthodox party, Shas, resigned from the cabinet over the issue, though the party has not officially withdrawn from the coalition.