Ultra-Orthodox Protesters Block Road Near Beit Lid Over Draft Arrests

Ultra-Orthodox extremist protesters are demonstrating outside Prison 10 near Beit Lid, close to Kfar Yona, in protest against the arrest of draft evaders. Police said Highway 57 eastbound at the Beit Lid junction and the Kfar Yona junction westbound were closed because of the protest.

The rally follows a morning demonstration on Highway 4 near Geha, where the protesters blocked the road and clashed violently with police. At Geha, the confrontation involved mounted officers, batons and stun grenades, and police were filmed dragging demonstrators along the road and tearing their pants.

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers criticized the police response and urged National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to intervene. Ben Gvir said he would hold an “urgent discussion” on the matter.

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri sharply attacked Ben Gvir over the police violence seen at the protest. “Itamar Ben Gvir, wake up,” Deri said. “It is impossible that what the police did not do in Kaplan against anarchists who wanted to destroy the state, they are now doing against citizens who cry out that they have been turned into criminals simply because they study Torah.” Deri added that Ben Gvir had shown he knows how to use the police when it matters to him, and called on him to stop the violence against “Torah scholars.”