A group of anti-Chareidi protesters says it plans to block the exits of Bnei Brak on Friday afternoon, approximately two hours before Shabbos, in what organizers describe as retaliation for the large Chareidi vehicle protests that disrupted traffic across Israel this week.

According to the organizers, hundreds of participants—including IDF soldiers, reservists, reservists’ family members, and civilians—are expected to take part in the demonstration.

One of the organizers, Yekutiel Epstein, a 19-year-old IDF soldier, said the timing was chosen deliberately.

“Just as the Chareidim take away our freedom by blocking roads, we’ll do the same to them at a time when it will be difficult for them,” Epstein said. “We want them to understand what it feels like when someone disrupts your life.”

Epstein also criticized government support for yeshiva students who do not serve in the military, saying compulsory service should apply to everyone.

Another organizer, attorney Ayelet Hashachar Seidof, head of the “Mothers on the Frontline” movement, said the protest was prompted by this week’s Chareidi demonstrations.

“After roads were blocked and soldiers returning home from Lebanon and parents trying to see their children were delayed, we decided to take to the streets as well,” she said. “Our goal is to block the exits from Bnei Brak and do to them what they have been doing to the Israeli public for months.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)