A late-night incident on Thursday at the Maccabim checkpoint on Route 443 sparked a large protest after a yeshiva student was arrested by police from the Modi'in Illit station around 1:00 a.m. Within minutes, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men and students gathered at the scene and demonstrated, with initial reports in the Black Flag system claiming the arrest was an attempt to hand the student over to the military police.
Police later gave a different account, saying officers had stopped a car for inspection because it aroused suspicion. They said the driver, a Modi'in Illit resident in his 20s, was found to have been driving a vehicle that had not passed its annual road test for more than a year. According to police, he was dealt with for a traffic offense, fined, and released, with no link to the military police or any attempted transfer.
The Black Flag system later updated that the yeshiva student had not in fact been handed over to the military police, and that his car remained at the scene. The unrest came after what was described as a historic vehicle protest the previous day, involving about 7,000 cars against the arrest of Torah students, amid mounting tension between the ultra-Orthodox public and law enforcement.
As the protest grew, Route 443 was closed in both directions and hundreds of demonstrators continued gathering. Police said the crowd violated public order, damaged a police vehicle, and punctured the tires of one police car. Yasam riot police and IDF forces were called in, and police considered using a water cannon, but by the time it arrived, the protesters had already begun to disperse and the event ended without it being used. During the demonstration, dozens were filmed dancing around the yeshiva student’s car and singing, "Blessed are you who were arrested for words of Torah."
