{"id":874536,"date":"2026-06-17T23:01:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/874536\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T23:01:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:01:28","slug":"haredi-anti-draft-protest-blocks-highway-near-tel-aviv-8-hurt-as-police-clear-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/874536\/","title":{"rendered":"Haredi anti-draft protest blocks highway near Tel Aviv, 8 hurt as police clear road"},"content":{"rendered":"

Haredi protesters blocked traffic Wednesday morning near Bnei Brak during an anti-draft demonstration that became violent, with police using stun grenades and batons to disperse participants.<\/p>\n

Later on in the day, thousands of Haredi demonstrators from a different sect gathered outside the IDF\u2019s Beit Lid military prison to protest the arrest of an ultra-Orthodox draft evader being held at the facility.<\/p>\n

Five protesters were arrested during the demonstration, which blocked traffic in both directions on Route 4 east of Tel Aviv as morning rush hour reached its peak.<\/p>\n

Eight protesters were lightly injured during the demonstration, the Hatzalah paramedic service told the Haaretz news outlet.<\/p>\n

Cops were filmed tearing the trousers of participants as they dragged them off the highway, throwing stun grenades at demonstrators and hitting them with batons, in scenes the sparked sharp condemnation from ultra-Orthodox politicians.<\/p>\n

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A row of police lined up in front of a group of protesters sitting on the tarmac,\u00a0 threw stun grenades at them, then rushed them, beating them with batons.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tHaredi men block Route 4 during a protest against the jailing of draft dodgers, near Bnei Brak, June 17, 2026 (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

In another video, the commander of Bnei Brak\u2019s police station, Ch. Supt. Yuval Shavit, was seen tearing the trousers of an ultra-Orthodox man <\/a>as he dragged him off the highway.<\/p>\n

In a statement, police said that a number of protesters crawled under vehicles in an attempt to prevent the road from being cleared after the protest against the arrest of draft dodgers had been declared an illegal demonstration.<\/p>\n

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\u05d4\u05e4\u05d2\u05e0\u05d4 \u05d1\u05db\u05d1\u05d9\u05e9 4: \u05e2\u05d9\u05de\u05d5\u05ea\u05d9\u05dd \u05e7\u05e9\u05d9\u05dd \u05d1\u05d9\u05df \u05d4\u05de\u05e4\u05d2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd \u05dc\u05de\u05e9\u05d8\u05e8\u05d4 pic.twitter.com\/gzFBST7SFa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u05db\u05d0\u05df \u05d7\u05d3\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea (@kann_news) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

One boy was seen walking with blood streaming down his face amid the chaotic demonstration, as officers shoved ultra-Orthodox men refusing to budge from their spots on the road.\n<\/p>\n

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\u05d1\u05de\u05e9\u05d8\u05e8\u05d4 \u05de\u05ea\u05e2\u05e7\u05e9\u05d9\u05dd: \u05d4\u05d9\u05dc\u05d3 \u05dc\u05d0 \u05e0\u05e4\u05d2\u05e2 \u05de\u05d0\u05dc\u05d9\u05de\u05d5\u05ea \u05e9\u05d5\u05d8\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd, \u05e4\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5 \u05e4\u05d2\u05e2\u05d5 \u05d1\u05d1\u05e8\u05d2\u05d9\u05dd \u05e9\u05dc \u05dc\u05d5\u05d7\u05d9\u05ea \u05e8\u05d9\u05e9\u05d5\u05d9 \u05e9\u05dc \u05e8\u05db\u05d1 \u05d5\u05d1\u05e9\u05dc \u05db\u05da \u05e0\u05e4\u05e6\u05e2 https:\/\/t.co\/dpdZOPVll5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u05d9\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc\u05d9 \u05d1\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd yoeli brim (@yoeli_brim) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Following the violence, the hardline Jerusalem Faction \u2014 which was responsible for organizing the surprise protest \u2014 threatened to petition the High Court of Justice over purported \u201cselective enforcement\u201d against Haredi protesters.<\/p>\n

The organization accused \u201cBen Gvir\u2019s police\u201d of acting \u201cwith humiliating and unrestrained violence towards the protesters, using harsh measures and shocking methods that violate legal regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this unacceptable conduct continues, we intend to petition the High Court of Justice in the near future,\u201d the group\u2019s spokesman said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, United Torah Judaism lawmaker Meir Porush likened the police conduct to repression seen in Turkey and Iran, calling it unworthy of \u201ca country governed by Jews\u201d that is also \u201cpurporting to be a democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cItamar Ben Gvir, wake up!\u201d said Shas chair Aryeh Deri, falsely claiming police apply a double standard against Haredi protesters that they did not apply to anti-government protesters. \u201cGet up now and stop the police violence against Torah scholars.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir \u2014 who has endorsed police use of severe violence against anti-government protesters in the past \u2014 put out a statement urging police to only use stun grenades in \u201cexceptional cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tNational Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads a meeting of his Otzma Yehudit faction at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on June 15, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel\/ Flash90)<\/p>\n

The far-right politician said he\u2019d hold an \u201curgent meeting\u201d to ensure law enforcement employs the measure only in \u201cexceptional cases and in accordance with police regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf their use is not limited to these cases, there will be no stun grenades in the police,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

The ultranationalist minister\u2019s sudden opposition to police use of stun grenades stood in stark contrast to his previous support for cops who employed the dispersal tool \u2014 which is liable to cause injury if thrown directly at a person \u2014 against anti-government demonstrators.<\/p>\n

Ben Gvir gave public backing to police who threw stun grenades into a crowd of anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv during a March 2023 demonstration, which led to the hospitalization of two demonstrators.<\/p>\n

The police commander at the scene, Supt. Meir Suissa, was indicted and later convicted for throwing a stun grenade that hit a protester in the face,<\/a> causing her injury and facial disfigurement that required cosmetic surgery to fix.<\/p>\n

Following the incident, Ben Gvir tried to promote Suissa and put him in charge of the south Tel Aviv police station, but the move was struck down by the Jerusalem District Court.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tIsraeli security forces stand guard as ultra-Orthodox Jews gather to protest against the detention of Haredi draft evaders outside the Bet Lid military prison in Kfar Yona on June 17, 2026. (Ilia Yefimovich\/AFP)<\/p>\n

Later on Wednesday, thousands of Haredi demonstrators, the bulk of whom are affiliated with the Gur dynasty, the largest Hasidic sect in Israel, protested outside the IDF\u2019s Beit Lid military prison.<\/p>\n

Amid fears of masses breaking into the Beit Lid base, which houses the Neve Tzedek prison and military courts, the IDF deployed Military Police soldiers to the area and put additional troops at a nearby base on standby in case additional forces are required.<\/p>\n

The protest took place after Gur\u2019s spiritual leader, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, called for a demonstration to be held during his visit to the prison, in solidarity with the jailed draft evader who belongs to the sect.<\/p>\n

Yitzhak Goldknopf, the head of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, was also at the scene of the protest. He was recorded reciting psalms at a podium before the demonstrators.<\/p>\n

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\u05e2\u05d3\u05db\u05d5\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd \u05de\u05d4\u05de\u05d7\u05d0\u05d4 \u05d5\u05d4\u05e2\u05d5\u05de\u05e1 \u05d1\u05db\u05d1\u05d9\u05e9\u05d9\u05dd | https:\/\/t.co\/Zl9mfiIbm0<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/4ZIzGphKe8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u05d4\u05d7\u05d3\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea \u2013 N12 (@N12News) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The head of a neighborhood committee in Kfar Yona, which lies just south of the jail, told Ynet that life has become \u201cimpossible\u201d in recent weeks as Haredi anti-draft protests ramp up across the country, particularly outside military prisons where evaders are held.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in fear, there\u2019s insane preparation going on all the time [ahead of Haredi protests] and it\u2019s not pleasant,\u201d committee head Mickey Gerbi told the outlet.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s demonstrations were part of a wave of violent and disruptive<\/a> protests against increased efforts to arrest draft evaders, and came less than a week after thousands of Haredim blocked central Israel highways and railroads last Thursday.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tUltra-Orthodox Jewish men block a road during a protest against the jailing of seminary students who failed to comply with an army recruitment order, on Route 4 near Bnei Brak, June 17, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, 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.<\/a><\/p>\n

Before that, a group of Haredi protesters broke into a police station compound in Beit Shemesh,<\/a> rioting and clashing with officers. And members of the radical Jerusalem Faction in April broke into the home of the Military Police chief while his family was inside. <\/a><\/p>\n

Haredi radicals also recently attempted to break into the police station<\/a> in Jerusalem\u2019s Russian Compound.<\/p>\n

The Jerusalem Faction has openly bragged about disrupting police activities against draft dodgers but has largely been able to evade any legal consequences.<\/p>\n

Ariela Karmel contributed to this report.<\/p>\n


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