Shutdown in Jerusalem for ultra-Orthodox protest

Israeli police say they will be closing the main highway to Jerusalem and the city’s central roads for a massive rally of ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Hundreds of thousands are expected to demonstrate Sunday evening against government plans to draft the ultra-Orthodox into the army and enforce criminal sanctions on draft dodgers.

In a rare move, police said in a statement that they are closing Jerusalem’s central bus station and nearly all public buses into the city, and limiting public transportation inside Jerusalem from afternoon until night. Some schools and government ministries in the city are also closing.

Ultra-Orthodox men have long been exempted from army service to pursue religious study, but Israel’s center-left government has been pushing for a more equal share of the compulsory national military service.