Kfar Yona Mayor Says Residents Will Block Car Protest Near Military Prison

Kfar Yona Mayor Albert Tayeb says he plans to stand with residents at the entrance to Givat Alonim, the neighborhood that leads to the road to the military base and Prison 10, in order to stop planned road blockages linked to a protest convoy on Wednesday. The convoy is expected to drive slowly from several locations across Israel to Prison 10 between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Tayeb told Kikar HaShabbat that his move is not directed at ultra-Orthodox Jews. “This is not a personal story against Haredim or against the Haredi public,” he said, adding that the area has seen repeated demonstrations by different groups in recent years. “Once it is Haredim, once the right wing, once conscientious objectors and once other groups, and every time the residents are the ones paying the price.”

He said the city becomes “besieged,” residents cannot freely enter or leave, and their quality of life is harmed. “We are not willing for Kfar Yona to become again and again a scene of protest at the expense of the city’s residents,” he said. “The residents’ quality of life comes above everything.”

The issue comes as the city’s coalition includes both Haredi and Religious Zionist representatives, underscoring Kfar Yona’s mixed character. Still, Tayeb said the dispute is about public order and freedom of movement, not about any specific sector.

The convoy protest is part of a broader wave of demonstrations over the arrest of yeshiva students in recent weeks. In earlier cases, a protest by hundreds of students from Be'er BeTalmod outside Prison 10 ended with an arrested avrekh being released before Shabbat, and a larger rally led by the Gerrer Rebbe secured the release of a Gerrer Hasid after a formal medical exemption from military service was obtained.