Beitar Illit deputy mayor and Hassidic faction leader Gedaliah Eisenstein was violently attacked on Wednesday while traveling in a protest convoy leaving the city. According to witnesses cited in the report, an incited assailant intentionally rammed Eisenstein’s car, got out of his own vehicle, and then choked him forcefully.
After the assault, Eisenstein was taken for urgent medical tests at a hospital to rule out internal injuries, according to the committee spokesman. The attack came amid what the article describes as ongoing violence against ultra-Orthodox protesters.
Shlomi Emunim chairman and Knesset member Meir Porush later called Eisenstein while he was at the hospital. During the conversation, Porush said he wanted to strengthen him personally and expressed deep shock at how easily severe physical violence was being directed at public representatives and ultra-Orthodox demonstrators.
Porush told Eisenstein, “גדליה, אתה בתפקיד ציבורי מקדש שם שמיים, על ידך התקדש שם שמים.” He added that rabbis had ordered people to go out and protest, that the struggle is to prevent Torah students from being jailed, and that “whoever is caught for words of Torah” should be praised. The incident prompted angry reactions from ultra-Orthodox leaders, who accused police of harassment and urged Israel Police to stop what they called deliberate targeting of a legitimate, peaceful, lawful protest movement and instead crack down hard on the attackers.
