Innocent Chareidi Men Brutally Beaten by Police in Violent Demonstration; Ben-Gvir Condemns Conduct

Two policemen were filmed Wednesday night beating chareidi men with clubs, during a demonstration held in Yerushalayim against the construction of the Light Rail. As seen on the video, the police officers beat young men who were walking on the sidewalk, although it is not at all clear that they actively participated in the demonstration.

No matter what the circumstances, at the time of the filming, the men who were beaten by the police did not disturb the traffic or participate in the protests. According to police, the officers had to take measures against the people who threw objects at the forces.

The police were deployed in large forces using horses and other means in order to disperse the protesters who were lying on the road and blocking the traffic lanes.

The leader of the Otzma Yehudit Party, MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is slated for the position of Minister of National Security, said: “In my view, it is very serious that policemen beat pedestrians, seemingly for no real reason. I expect the police to look into the matter immediately. I am indeed in favor of supporting the policemen, but not this. In any event and situation, and certainly there is no justification for beating chareidim simply because they are chareidim, and police officers cannot use their power and behave inappropriately. The chareidim are not a boxing bag for the police.”

The Israel Police responded to the allegations: “In recent months, there has been a group of protesters who harm the general public, disrupt life and cause heavy damage to private and public property. [Wednesday] night, the incident started at the Bar Ilan intersection, where groups of rioters arrived from the Tzefania intersection, knocking down fences on their way on the road. The police acted with restraint -even though stones and eggs were thrown at them and trash cans were set on fire.

“During the protests, police acted several times to push them to the side of the road with non-violent means so that vehicles could pass. After all this did not help, permission was given to push the protesters with batons aimed at the lower body, with an emphasis placed on not using them on uninvolved women and children. Contrary to the video released to the press, this was a group of people who were on a balcony from which various objects, including stones, were thrown at the police, and therefore it was decided to disperse them.

“Israel Police will not put up with violent disturbances and it doesn’t matter what the reason is. The organizers of the protests and disturbances would do well to examine themselves for the damage and grief they are causing to the general law-abiding public living in the area, and certainly also in the face of vandalism of private and public property,” the police added.