IDF Soldiers Hanged In Effigy In Jerusalem Ultra-Orthodox Neighborhoods

An effigy of a religious Israeli soldier hanged from the neck in the ultra-Orthodox Me’a She’arim neighborhood of Jerusalem. Image by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images
(JTA) — Two effigies of Israeli soldiers with a rope around their necks were hung in predominantly Haredi areas of Jerusalem, in what Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said was a “shocking” criminal act.
Police officers on Friday removed the effigies, one of which was soaked in flammable fluid, from a rooftop in Jerusalem’s Me’a She’arim neighborhood and from a rope dangling from a column on Chaim Ozer Street, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The effigies had black kippahs on their heads, leading to speculations in the Israeli media that it was meant to intimidate Haredi soldiers who serve in the Israel Defense Forces.
Haredi Orthodox Jews were allowed an automatic exemption from serving until a 2014 law decreed they sign up for the army or other frameworks by 2017. Despite violent protests to this by some Haredis, including assaults against Haredi conscripts, their numbers are rising, according to the IDF. Their number rose dramatically from just a few dozen in 1999 to 2,850 recruits in 2016, according to the news site NRG.
“The sight of an effigy of a soldier hanging from a noose in Me’a She’arim is shocking,” Liberman wrote on Twitter. “As defense minister, my job is to afford security also to this kind of inciters. As a citizen, my duty is to fight them politically. The authorities’ duty is to put them behind bars. I expect the heads of the Haredi parties to condemn this act.”
Liberman has clashed with Haredi politicians over his support for increasing conscription among Haredis.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.