Violent clashes broke out Wednesday evening between secular and ultra-Orthodox youths in the southern city of Arad, as ultra-Orthodox protesters staged nationwide convoy demonstrations against efforts to draft yeshiva students into the military, causing massive traffic disruptions across Israel. The clashes began after secular residents blocked vehicles driven by ultra-Orthodox protesters. Footage from the scene showed pushing, punching and kicking.An ultra-Orthodox protester strikes the door of a bus during a confrontation near Kiryat Ono (Video: Eran)Police said officers and Border Police forces were deployed in Arad after reports of a brawl near a residential complex. They said forces were working to restore public order and prevent further violence.In another incident near Kiryat Ono, several ultra-Orthodox protesters confronted other drivers. One man was filmed leaving a vehicle and striking the door of a bus with a whip.“Suddenly we saw one of them pull out a whip and start hitting the bus door. It was just insane,” Eran, who filmed the incident, told ynet.Protest organizers in Ashdod said a passerby damaged a vehicle on Highway 7 and smashed one of its windows. They said the man also tried to hit the driver and that the incident was documented.Secular and ultra-Orthodox youths clash in Arad during nationwide convoy protests against the draft (Video: from social media)Traffic comes to a standstill on Highway 1 as ultra-Orthodox protesters drive in slow-moving convoys against yeshiva student enlistment (Video: Idan Bloemhof)The unrest came during a nationwide protest launched at 4 p.m. from dozens of locations in 19 cities. The slow-moving convoys were organized by the Ger Hasidic dynasty, Israel's largest Hasidic group and the dominant force within the Agudat Israel faction of the United Torah Judaism party.The protesters had planned to drive slowly to Military Prison 10 near Kfar Yona, encircle it and return. The prison has become a flashpoint in ultra-Orthodox protests because it has held army deserters, including yeshiva students who refused enlistment.Police blocked access to the prison, and organizers later said they would drive only as far as nearby Highway 57 before turning back, saying the protest had “run its course.”The demonstrations caused major traffic disruptions across the country. The National Roads Company reported heavy congestion as early as 3 p.m., particularly on Highways 1 and 4. Police traffic officials had warned that Highway 6, Israel’s main north-south artery, would be badly affected, along with Highways 1, 443, 4, 2, 20 and 57.GallerySecular and ultra-Orthodox youths clash in Arad during nationwide convoy protests against the draft (Photo: from social media)(Photo: from social media)(Photo: from social media)Organizers instructed drivers to move at a steady speed of about 50 kilometers per hour, or 31 mph, and maintain double the usual safety distance between vehicles to avoid sudden braking and chain collisions.Several ultra-Orthodox lawmakers joined the convoys. In Jerusalem, lawmakers Yitzhak Goldknopf and Meir Porush took part in the protest. Cars there displayed posters depicting National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in military police uniform with the slogan, “The Jews’ No. 1 enemy.”Goldknopf led a convoy that left Jerusalem via Highway 1, saying, “It is inconceivable that in Bulgaria a young man can sit and study Torah without interruption, but not in the Jewish state.” His driver was filmed using a siren without an operational need.Rabbi Shlomo Machpud, a member of Shas' Council of Torah Sages, joined one of the convoys departing from Bnei Brak in a vehicle decorated with signs reading, "Enough! There is no path without the path of the Torah."Ultra-Orthodox men attach a protest sign to a vehicle before joining a convoy against plans to draft yeshiva students (Photo: Shaul Golan)Ultra-Orthodox protesters place signs on a car during a convoy protest against military draft efforts. One poster depicts National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in military police uniform with the slogan, 'The Jews’ No. 1 enemy' (Photo: Idan Bloemhof)Ultra-Orthodox protesters holding anti-Ben-Gvir signs in Jerusalem (Photo: Gil Yochanan)Bnei Brak Mayor Hanoch Zeibert said the protests would stop only if the state restored the longstanding arrangement under which full-time Torah students received military exemptions."We will stop the protests when they bring back the arrangement that existed for 70 years, under which those who study receive exemptions," he said.The protest received extensive support in Hamodia, the newspaper affiliated with Agudat Israel, which declared that "many thousands" would participate and carried headlines including "Impossible to remain silent."The demonstrations come amid growing tensions within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition over legislation regulating military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews. Traffic backs up on a highway as ultra-Orthodox protesters drive in slow-moving convoys against plans to draft yeshiva students (Photo: National Roads Company)Police block a junction outside Kfar Yona to prevent protesters from reaching Military Prison 10 (Photo: Shaul Golan)The draft issue has become one of Israel’s most divisive political questions. Most Jewish Israelis are required to serve in the military, while generations of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students received exemptions. The arrangement has come under renewed pressure during the war, as the army seeks more manpower and courts have challenged the legality of blanket exemptions.Goldknopf dismissed a recent compromise reportedly reached between Netanyahu, Shas leader Aryeh Deri and Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni, saying it would not adequately protect yeshiva students."There will come a day when we turn the country upside down," Goldknopf told Kol Barama radio. "The entire country will be like a burning fire. Do they think they can turn us into servants? The time will come when everyone will go out and protest across the country. We will take the prisons and turn them into yeshivas."Kfar Yona has become a focal point for ultra-Orthodox protests in recent weeks because of its proximity to Military Prison 10, with repeated demonstrations disrupting residents’ daily routines.Ahead of Wednesday’s convoy, some residents prepared a counterprotest to prevent the vehicles from entering neighborhoods near the prison.A Kfar Yona resident carries an Israeli flags during a counterprotest against ultra-Orthodox demonstrators seeking to reach nearby Military Prison 10 (Photo: Gil Nechushtan)Miki Jerbi, chairman of the Givat Alonim neighborhood committee near the prison, told ynet that residents wanted to protect their freedom of movement.“Most of the neighborhood’s residents will be here so the protesters don’t enter the neighborhood,” he said. “It is important to us that our freedom of movement be preserved.”Jerbi said police had informed residents that ultra-Orthodox vehicles would not be allowed into the neighborhood and that entrances and exits would remain open. He said residents would block roads only if that did not happen.Yuval Shefer, a local resident who arrived at the counterprotest dressed as a knight, said he was “leading the neighborhood legion” and wanted an end to the recurring disruptions.Kfar Yona resident Yuval Shefer, dressed as a knight, joins a counterprotest against repeated disruptions near Military Prison 10 (Photo: Roy Rubinstein)“I grew up in Kfar Yona, and over the past year they have been coming here every two or three weeks,” he said. “I support equality in the burden and enlistment.”Kfar Yona Mayor Albert Taieb said police had blocked vehicle access to the Givat Alonim neighborhood and deployed reinforced forces. Residents were allowed to enter after presenting identification.“After the destruction and damage in last week’s ultra-Orthodox protest, we will not allow anyone to enter,” Taieb said. “Israel Police understood that we are serious, and I am glad they prepared.”Taieb urged residents not to use violence and said the city’s dispute was not with the ultra-Orthodox public but with the prison’s location.“The story of Kfar Yona residents is not with the ultra-Orthodox. The story is Prison 10,” he said. “The State of Israel needs to remove the prison from here.”He said he planned to meet Ben-Gvir to push for the prison’s relocation and, in the immediate term, for ultra-Orthodox deserters held there to be moved elsewhere.