Left-wing demonstrators who blocked roads in Bnei Brak began dispersing after more than an hour, according to a single report. Photographs show the scene. The protest targeted Haredi draft-evader rallies.
Protesters who cordoned off entrances and exits to Bnei Brak for more than an hour began dispersing shortly before 14:43 Jerusalem, according to a single report and photographs of the scene.
The demonstration, which broke out at roughly 13:32 Jerusalem, escalated within minutes: initial reports described dozens of secular activists blocking Kahaneman Street in protest of weekly Haredi road closures (version 1). By 13:32, scuffles broke out between secular and Haredi demonstrators (version 2), and protesters soon began blocking the main entrance to the city (version 3). Video footage later documented buses being blocked and confrontations with residents as the group 'Mothers on the Frontline' was identified at the scene (versions 4–6). Police exercised restraint throughout, not using force or making arrests. The Zioneer has previously reported on related violence: on June 17, eight people were lightly wounded when police broke up a similar left-wing blockade near Bnei Brak, and Haredi demonstrators in other locations have dispersed under rabbinical instruction.
It remains unclear whether any further unrest or arrests will follow the dispersal, and whether police intend to take action against the participants after the fact.
8 developments
- DevelopingProtesters against anti-draft-evader demonstrations leave Bnei Brak
- DevelopingBnei Brak council member Yaakov Vider condemns anti-draft protesters blocking entrances
- DevelopingHaredi public warns it will not stay silent over planned Bnei Brak road blockade
- DevelopingExtremist Haredi activists block entrance to Beit Lid military prison
Source and signal
- Internal intake