Jerusalem – Several hundred young haredi men associated with an extremist haredi faction rioted on Sunday against the arrest of a yeshiva student caught by police in Eilat visiting pubs and night clubs who has not reported to the IDF for military service.
Demonstrations took place in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem, as well as on Route 4, and Route 444 just north of the predominantly haredi city of Elad.
Hordes of protestors tried to block Bar Ilan street, a central Jerusalem thoroughfare, but were forcibly dispersed by the police. One policeman was injured by stones thrown by the rioters, but was treated on the spot.
In total, approximately 30 protestors were arrested around the country for rioting and disturbing the public order.
The violent demonstrations started on Thursday after a haredi yeshiva student from Elad was arrested in Eilat by the police.
The student, and three of his friends, had been visiting the “Crazy Elephant” night club in the city and then hailed a cab to take them to the main promenade where they wished to find a pub.
According to the police, the group of four yeshiva students underpaid for their cab ride by 5 shekels, and the cab driver who was disgruntled by their behavior, reported them to the police.
The police were able to find and identify the youths in question, and upon detaining them discovered that one of them had not reported to the IDF for the preliminary drafting process.
According to the police report, non of the yeshiva students were wearing any religious items such as yarmulkes or tzitzit, and were dressed like any other young men on a night out.
In an interview with haredi news website Haredim 10, the cab driver explained that it was the rude and obnoxious behavior of the four young men, which included them throwing a 20 shekel bill at the driver for the fare, which led him to make the complaint to the police.
Although the large majority of young haredi men do not serve in the IDF, most do report to the IDF enlistment offices when they receive their enlistment orders, and then subsequently gain their deferrals.
A grouping known as the Jerusalem Faction led by the hardline Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach has instructed its yeshiva students not even to report for the preliminary process and opposes any cooperation with the government over the issue of haredi enlistment to the army.
It is yeshiva students and others associated with the Jerusalem Faction who have been responsible for the riots over the past few days, which also occurred in Beit Shemesh on Thursday.
As reported by Vos Iz Neias