Israeli police opened an investigation after videos spread online from a vehicle convoy protest held Monday on Route 1. Overnight Wednesday to Thursday, officers arrested two suspects on suspicion of making armed threats during the demonstration, and the arrests were carried out after reports reached police that participants had been threatened with a weapon.
According to police, the footage showed one suspect driving a car and pointing a handgun out of the window toward ultra-Orthodox protesters standing by the road. The police said they would seek to extend the first suspect’s remand in court later on Thursday. His weapon was seized by police during the investigation.
A second suspect was also taken in for questioning at the Harel police station. Police said he does not hold a firearms license and is being investigated on the suspicion that was raised against him.
The gun incident was not the only violent episode reported during the convoy protest. Earlier reports said Gedaliah Eisenstein, deputy mayor of Beitar Illit and head of the Hasidic faction, was severely assaulted after a man allegedly rammed his car and then strangled him. Another incident involved a truck driver who got out on the Ayalon highways, ran toward a protest convoy leaving Bnei Brak, and attacked a vehicle while armed with a knife and sticks. Police said they will continue a thorough investigation of all incidents and act firmly against anyone who used violence or threatened protesters.
