The ultra-Orthodox community is continuing preparations for Sunday's planned "million-man march," the title organizers have given to their prayer rally protesting the new conscription law that will see haredi draft dodgers facing criminal sanctions.
The rally, which organizers say will draw upwards of 600,000 demonstrators, will take place near Jerusalem's Chords Bridge, where authorities are planning to shut down the main arteries of the city in preparation.
On Thursday, rabbis from the three major Torah councils -- Sephardi, Lithuanian and Hassidic -- wrote a public letter on the issue.
"We are outraged at the mass blasphemy, at the malicious intention of the prime minister's government in preventing Torah students from studying in yeshivas, forcibly drafting them and threatening those who do not enlist with punishments of arrest and imprisonment," the letter said.
"We are sure that the strength of Israel does not lie, and that the yeshiva and kollel (full-time Talmudic study institutions) students will not be drafted, will not succumb to temptation and penalties, and will not cooperate with the army's plans, including the haredi recruitment center; rather they will stand strong to perform their duty of pronouncing the words of our holy Torah day and night. ... We read out in a loud voice: 'The time of Jacob's trouble,' (Jeremiah 30:7), and we want to do everything to ensure that 'He shall be saved out of it.' ... Here we are, crying out to our brothers, the people of Israel wherever they are, to hold on the heart of our forefathers and to sanctify the name of God and to join together as one in the prayer rally to sanctify the name of God, to join in the mass protest in an appropriate manner for the God-fearing public, without being drawn into provocations."
Among those expected to attend the rally are MKs from Habayit Hayehudi and religious Zionist rabbis, who, despite disagreements, have chosen to join the protest. The Kiryat Ono haredi student union plans to cancel afternoon classes on Sunday so that students can attend the rally.
Transportation in and near Jerusalem will be disrupted for the rally, with Route 1 into the city being shut to private vehicles.