As per reports, the Ben-Gurion University Students Union announced on Sunday (21 September) that it would launch a strike at the start of the academic year in protest against the proposed Haredi exemption law, which seeks to exempt ultra-Orthodox men from compulsory service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

• The strike follows calls from student unions at Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University urging other institutions to join the boycott.
• Students participating in the protest, many of whom have completed significant periods of reserve duty, argue that the exemption creates unequal burdens of national service, with some being equal and others more equal.