Israeli Public Security Minister Amir Ohana condemns the “savage violence” after three police officers suffer light wounds during clashes in the mainly ultra-Orthodox city.
Violence seen in 3 cities as officers attempt to shut down educational institutions open in violation of pandemic restrictions; Haredi minister says officers going 'wild'
Police operate to enforce lockdown in Bnei Brak, January 21, 2020 (Israel Police)
Ultra-Orthodox politicians on Friday raged at police after major clashes broke out overnight in Bnei Brak between cops and rioters opposed to lockdown rules, with police in turn saying that officers were “brutally attacked.”
The skirmishes, which began Thursday night and continued into the predawn hours of Friday morning, came after a mob in the predominantly Haredi city injured a police officer on patrol.
At least six people were arrested for disturbing public order and police said seven officers were injured.
The rioting was condemned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed to act with a “heavy hand” against those who violated lockdown rules and assaulted police, but his ultra-Orthodox political allies lashed out at police over the rioting.
Jan. 22, 2021
At around 11 P.M., the reports began streaming in: large police contingents near the yeshiva on Shlomo Hamelech Street in Tel Aviv suburb Bnei Brak. Nearby only a few hours earlier, a female detective and an inspector had been injured by a mob.
From the moment the pictures of the violence were posted, it was clear the police wouldn’t let it go. On Twitter, Public Security Minister Amir Ohana promised a response, and 15 minutes later, the police had already occupied the small street – with stun grenades going off in the background.
This nighttime incident was unusual: the batons, the stun grenades and the location, the largely ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak. Also unusual was the identity of the people on the receiving end of the violence – young people from the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, mainstream.