{"id":843439,"date":"2026-06-04T08:44:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T08:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/843439\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T08:44:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T08:44:29","slug":"a-pogrom-haredi-rioters-smash-windows-damage-home-of-deputy-supreme-court-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/843439\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A pogrom’: Haredi rioters smash windows, damage home of deputy Supreme Court chief"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dozens of ultra-Orthodox extremists smashed windows and caused property damage while trying to break into Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice Noam Sohlberg\u2019s house during a riot Wednesday night, in the latest such violent demonstration targeting law enforcement over the arrest of Haredi draft dodgers.<\/p>\n

Images from the Alon Shvut settlement showed shattered windows, broken flowerpots by the front door of the house, a car in the garage with a smashed windshield, and a small Israeli flag with a swastika in place of the Star of David.<\/p>\n

Sohlberg and his wife were both home at the time of the attempted break-in.<\/p>\n

The Haredi demonstrators tried to flee the scene on a bus but were stopped by police, who said they detained dozens of suspects.<\/p>\n

It was not clear why the rioters chose to protest Sohlberg, though he has been highly critical of the government for failing to enforce conscription, saying<\/a> in April that the low number of arrests of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers gave \u201cthe impression of a complete failure of the police.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n

He was also part of the nine-member judicial panel that in 2024 unanimously invalidated the years-long exemptions to mandatory military service for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, exposing those who do not enlist as legally required to arrest and leading to the coalition\u2019s current efforts to legislate a new exemption law.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tMeira Sohlberg, the wife of Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice Noam Sohlberg, speaks to reporters outside her home in the Alon Shvut settlement following a riot by Haredi demonstrators,June 3, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are children of Holocaust survivors; how can Jews hurt one another?\u201d Sohlberg\u2019s wife, Meira, said to reporters outside her vandalized home. \u201cLook at this devastation, it\u2019s a pogrom. What is this, Kristallnacht?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Judicial Authority released a statement decrying the \u201cgrave and unacceptable incident,\u201d which it described as \u201can attempt to harm the sense of security of judicial officeholders and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEfforts to pressure, intimidate or deter judges will not influence the fulfillment of their roles. Israeli judges will continue to carry out their work professionally, independently and without fear, in accordance with the rule of law and their duty to the public,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tUltra-Orthodox Jewish men, protesting against the jailing of those who failed to comply with IDF draft orders, attack the home of Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut, June 3, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Israel Police Commissioner Danny Levy also slammed the riot, stating that \u201cit can\u2019t be that the right to protest turns into violent acts, causing damage or harming public figures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli politicians denounced the attack, which President Isaac Herzog called \u201ca dangerous crossing of a red line.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever tries to sow fear in the judicial system harms\u2026 the foundations of Israeli democracy. Disagreement, however deep it may be, cannot turn into violence and intimidation,\u201d Herzog said, adding that he spoke with Sohlberg to stress his condemnation of vandalism and \u201cthreats against his and his wife\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI call on everyone: Stop before there is a disaster,\u201d the president added.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tSupreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg at a court hearing, February 2, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he strongly condemned the riot and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, without mentioning their identity. Netanyahu\u2019s office later announced that he too spoke with Sohlberg, reiterating his denunciation of the violence and saying he \u201cexpects law enforcement officials to deal aggressively with the rioters.\u201d<\/p>\n

United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf, who was among Haredi faction leaders demanding<\/a> last week that Netanyahu intervene to stop the arrest of draft dodgers, claimed \u201cthere is no place for violence in our camp\u201d while expressing his \u201cfull support for the Torah students whose honor and standing have been trampled under the feet of the current government and are expressing their pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no immediate comment from UTJ No. 2 Moshe Gafni or Aryeh Deri, a top Netanyahu ally and leader of the coalition\u2019s Shas party, which, like United Torah Judaism, has been advocating to again enshrine draft exemptions for Haredi seminarians into law.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tHaredi demonstrators push over a dumpster while rioting outside the home of Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice Noam Sohlberg in the settlement of Alon Shvut, June 3, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Opposition Yashar party chief Gadi Eisenkot said \u201cthe extremist shirkers are harvesting the corrupt government\u2019s fruits of incitement,\u201d calling for all those involved to be arrested and tried while slamming Netanyahu\u2019s \u201cinsufficient\u201d response, which \u201cwill not prevent the next riot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHarming a judge is harming the order of the democratic system and its institutions,\u201d Eisenkot wrote on X, calling for the Shin Bet security service to be put in charge of the investigation.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tPolice inspect a damaged car at the home of Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut, after ultra-Orthodox Jews attacked the home in protest against the jailing of those who failed to comply with IDF draft orders, June 3, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also tore into the government, saying that \u201cthere is no police, no law, not even someone to complain to,\u201d while former prime minister Naftali Bennett said Sohlberg\u2019s home was attacked \u201conly because he won\u2019t surrender to the criminal ploys of the Netanyahu-Deri-Gafni coalition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis small extremist and violent group receives protection from the government and permits itself to go further and further,\u201d added Bennett, who warned of potential casualties \u201cthe next time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The violence at Sohlberg\u2019s house came days after a group of Haredi protesters broke into<\/a> a police station compound in Beit Shemesh, rioting and clashing with officers, and after members of the radical Jerusalem Faction in April broke into<\/a> the home of the Military Police chief while his family was inside.<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tDiscover Israel’s most beloved poet\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

She died more than four decades ago, but Leah Goldberg remains a magnetic and enigmatic figure: Israel\u2019s most beloved poet, a powerful woman who lived with her mother and never married, who reinvented herself from the ashes of World War I through her magical writing.<\/p>\n

You can screen ‘The Five Houses of Leah Goldberg’<\/strong> June 4-11.\u00a0 Join The Times of Israel Community today <\/strong>to support our work and watch this and other outstanding documentary films in our DocuNation series.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tI want to see it\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tI want to see it\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tYou’re a dedicated reader\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re really pleased that you\u2019ve read X Times of Israel articles<\/strong> in the past month. \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.<\/p>\n

So now we have a request.<\/strong> Unlike other news outlets, we haven\u2019t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE<\/strong>, as well as accessing exclusive content<\/strong> available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n

Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dozens of ultra-Orthodox extremists smashed windows and caused property damage while trying to break into Supreme Court Deputy…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":843440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[323629,99,345123,50,344892,256913],"class_list":["post-843439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-draft-evasion","tag-israel","tag-military-draft","tag-news","tag-noam-sohlberg","tag-ultra-orthodox-draft"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116690963158378478","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}