Hundreds of thousands of ultra- Orthodox Jews are rallying Sunday in Jerusalem to protest a government plan to enlist their young men into the military.

Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld estimates that "some hundreds of thousands" are attending the gathering, and more are still traveling from around the country to participate in the rally.

He added that some 3,500 policemen are present at the venues of the event.

The protest has put Jerusalem under blockade. Police has closed Highway 1, which connects the city with Tel Aviv, as well as other main roads. Public transportation in Jerusalem was also shutdown and so were some schools and governmental offices.

There were no speeches at the rally, only joint prayers and reading of Psalms. Demonstrators held placards reading, "we will not join the army," "Bibi (Israel's Prime Minister) is bad for the Jews" and "War on religion."

"Criminalizing young ultra-Orthodox for not joining the army is a cruel decision which will be remembered for generations," Rabbi Benny Rabinowitz, a spokesperson for the rally told Xinhua. "We call it blasphemy."

The rally was called on by leading rabbis, in a rare demonstration of unity of the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel.

The government is pushing for a bill to conscript ultra- Orthodox and put criminal sanctions, including incarceration, on draft dodgers.

According to the bill, 5,200 ultra-Orthodox men will be obliged to join the military starting from 2017.

The bill, which was approved in July, is planned to be put to a final vote this month in the Knesset (parliament) plenum.

Israeli law obliges all Israeli Jewish citizens to serve in the army at the age of 18. However, the ultra-Orthodox are traditionally exempted so that they could pursue religious studies in yeshivas (seminaries).

This practice is resented by many in the secular society, who argue that the responsibility of serving Israel's security needs is not equally shared by all the sectors of the society.

The Yesh Atid party, which won 19 seats in the January 2013 elections, promised its voters to establish a law which would " equalize" the burden of the military service.

Party leader Yair Lapid insisted on this issue in the negotiations to form the current coalition.

Although the bill hasn't been approved yet, the Israeli Supreme Court issued last month an interim order forcing the government to cut funding for ultra-Orthodox seminaries whose students dodged drafts after enlistment orders were issued for them last August.