Dozens of ultra-Orthodox men clashed with police outside central Jerusalem’s Basimta cafe on Saturday for the sixth straight week as Haredi demonstrations against the cafe operating on Shabbat continued.

Police were deployed in advance and maintained a wider perimeter around the cafe than on previous Saturdays to prevent a repeat of the chaotic scenes seen last week, when protesters tried to force their way into the cafe itself. There were no reports of injuries or arrests.

Haredi protesters could be seen yelling “Shabbos,” and threw eggs toward the cafe area before being pushed back by police, as the secular counter-protesters chanted, “Shabbat belongs to all of us,” according to the footage broadcast on Channel 12.

Secular activists, including Yair Golan and members of his left-leaning Democrats party, had flocked to Basimta on Saturday, to form a human chain to keep Haredi protesters from approaching the cafe, footage on X showed.

Hebrew media reported that some people standing on porches near Basimta lobbed plastic bags full of water at secular people who came to the cafe.

The confrontations began on July 4, when dozens of ultra-Orthodox demonstrators, many reportedly minors, gathered outside the cafe in several waves, banging on its windows and, according to staff, overturning tables.

Tensions peaked last Saturday when dozens of Haredi men burst through barricades and tried to force their way inside.

היערכות מוקדמת בכוחות מתוגברים של המשטרה........

© The Times of Israel