The ultra-Orthodox challenge to Israel's secular democracy…

The ultra-Orthodox challenge to Israel's secular democracy reaches new heights in 1999, with an unprecedented two hundred thousand strong demonstration against the Supreme Court on February 14.

The ultra-Orthodox have been stung by a rash of Supreme Court decisions, including rulings that exemption from military service for students in yeshivot (religious seminaries) is no longer legally valid, while shopping on the Sabbath in the secular kibbutz communal settlements is.