A rally against Haredi inclusion in the Israeli military draft which was scheduled for this Sunday in Newark, New Jersey, has been indefinitely postponed after event organizers failed to secure a permit in time, according to the publication Matzav.com, which serves Orthodox Jewish readers.

Susan Garofalo, press secretary for Newark mayor Ras Baraka, said that local ordinances require a 60-day notice for issuing permits. The anti-draft event organizers submitted their application three days ahead of the planned prayer gathering on Sunday, she said.

The gathering received widespread support from leaders across the Haredi world, including Litvish rabbis from Lakewood, rabbis from both factions of the Satmar Hasidic community, and other Hasidic rabbis, according to a document posted on X, formerly Twitter by Jacob Kornbluh, a reporter at the Forward.

Organizers expected tens of thousands of people to join the rally, and planned to shut down part of Route 21, a 6-lane highway next to the venue at 450 Broad Street in downtown Newark where Riverfront Stadium used to be, according to another ad published in Orthodox media outlets. Referring to the variety of Haredi groups shelving their differences to protest the IDF draft, the ad said the event would be a historic moment for the “unity of American Judaism.” Unusually, the ad also mentioned having a designated location for journalists who, organizers hoped, would report about the “persecution” of Haredim by the Israeli government.

In April, for the first time in Israel’s history, Haredi yeshiva students became subject to the military draft, but were not immediately enlisted. Haredi rabbis, even ones in America, who are traditionally non-Zionist and believe that they contribute to Israel’s safety by studying in yeshiva, bemoaned that news. While supporters of the change point to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the country’s rapidly changing demographics as reasons that Haredim should serve, the Haredi group Agudath Israel of America said that Israeli authorities have “declared war on the Torah.”  In July, the Israeli military sent draft notices to 1,000 Haredi men who could go to prison if they ignore their call up.

In an ad for the gathering that appeared in the Haredi news outlet Monsey View, event organizers lamented the recent news. “Thousands of young men in all parts of Israel are in real danger of being drafted into the military,” the ad said in Yiddish.

Haredi Americans have taken action to support their brethren in Israel: this summer, an organization raising money for Haredi institutions in Israel said it raised about $85 million from Americans to support yeshivas who are poised to lose government funding as their students are now eligible to be drafted to the Israeli military.

The event organizers could not be reached for comment on Friday.