Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators protesting the arrest of a prospective army conscript from their community clashed with police in Jerusalem on Sunday and eight men were detained, police said.

Police used a water canon and mounted officers dispersed the protest that briefly turned violent near Jerusalem’s military recruiting office which lies on the edge of one of the city’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.

Although most ultra-Orthodox seminary students gain exemption from military service on religious grounds, they must obtain their exemption through a conscription procedure. Police said the protest was prompted by the man’s arrest after he refused to turn up for recruitment.

Last week Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that parts of the conscription law that exempt seminary students were unconstitutional and gave the government a year to resolve the matter.

Most Jewish Israelis, men and women, are called up for military service when they turn 18.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said protesters blocked streets and threw stones at police officers. Video footage showed officers kicking, punching and pushing some demonstrators and a few were dragged across a street.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT