Hundreds of Haredi rioters try to break into Jerusalem police station, attack cops in Beit Shemesh |
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men rioted in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh during protests on Friday night against the arrest of draft dodgers, days after a large group of Haredi men carried out a violent attack on the home of High Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg. The riots came after the start of the Sabbath, when the fourth of the Ten Commandments requires Jews to rest.
Police and Hebrew media reports said rioters repeatedly tried to approach the police station in Jerusalem’s Russian Compound, but were repelled by police.
In the largely Haredi central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, police said rioters threw stones and other objects at officers, who in turn used force to disperse them.
Late Friday night, law enforcement, including a contingent of Border Police troops, was still working to disperse the crowds.
According to the Ynet news site, the crowd tried to break down the gate at the police station while protesting the detention of those arrested over the riot at Sohlberg’s home.
The Ynet report said a secular Israeli was also injured and bleeding as a result of the riot. The man, who did not give his name, said he was kicked in the head.
There are frequent Haredi protests and riots over the issue of the military draft, amid arrests of draft evaders and efforts to pass legislation that would enshrine the blanket........