Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday ordered house arrest for a driver suspected of threatening demonstrators with a gun during a Haredi anti-draft protest on Route 1. The incident was filmed by one of the protesters, prompting police to open an investigation and arrest the suspect late Tuesday night. Police said questioning at the Har’el station showed he possessed a weapon without a license.
According to the footage, the driver was on his way to Tel Aviv when he passed the protest and extended his gun out of the car window toward the demonstrators. A police representative told the hearing that the danger was obvious, saying that driving with a gun pointed outward at protesters was “a dangerous act, to say the least.”
Defense attorney Tzahi Raz argued that his client understood his behavior was unusual and that no real danger had been posed. “He was not with his finger on the trigger,” Raz said, adding that there was no current danger because police had taken the weapon away.
Judge Ariel Ehrlich ordered the suspect released to house arrest at his home in Geva Binyamin. In his ruling, he wrote that the alleged offense happened “in a situation of tension and panic” while law enforcement was not providing a response, and added that the road blockade itself created a serious hazard and “great danger to the public.”
In a separate case, a viral video showed a taxi driver apparently threatening protesters with a gun, but police later determined he had not held a firearm and had only waved his hands, so he was released. Meanwhile, the Department for Internal Police Investigations summoned a police officer seen kicking a protester at a Route 4 demonstration last week, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called to dismiss the Bnei Brak police chief. Police Commissioner Danny Levi responded with a letter backing the station commander.
