Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men blocked a major Jerusalem intersection on Thursday to protest attempts to force them to register for Israeli military service.

Military service is mandatory for most Israeli Jewish men, but the ultra-Orthodox are often exempted in order to pursue their religious studies.

These exemptions have long infuriated secular Israelis, but ultra-Orthodox communities have resisted repeated attempts to force them to register for military service.

At Thursday's demonstration, religious protesters dressed in black blocked traffic at a main intersection near the city's entrance and chanted "I will not join the army of destruction."