Clashes Erupt in Elad After Yeshiva Student Arrested, Police Use Stun Grenades
Translated & summarized from Behadrei Haredim by baba
Severe clashes erupted overnight in Elad after police arrested a yeshiva student who was a deserter from the IDF. Police used stun grenades inside yeshiva compounds, injuring several students, including one hospitalized. Students accuse police of excessive force and indiscriminate use of stun grenades. The protest began after the student was transferred to military police for a ten-day sentence.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Police used stun grenades inside Elad yeshiva compounds, injuring students after arresting one.
- Students allege police threw stun grenades indiscriminately, even at uninvolved individuals.
- One student was hospitalized following the overnight clashes in Elad.
- The unrest followed the arrest of a yeshiva student declared a deserter from the IDF.
- Protests against the arrest also occurred in Kfar Saba and near Ra'anana junction.
Severe clashes broke out overnight in the city of Elad, following the arrest of a student from the "Torah B'Tifarta" yeshiva who was handed over to military police. During the confrontations, police forces reportedly used stun grenades, with accounts from the scene indicating that several students were injured, including one who was evacuated to the hospital. Students from the yeshiva have raised serious allegations of police brutality, claiming that officers entered the yeshiva compounds and threw stun grenades even at students who were not participating in the protest.
The events began Wednesday evening when students from "Torah B'Tifarta" held a spontaneous protest at the entrance to Elad against their peer's arrest. The demonstration, which lasted several hours, led to the blocking of Highway 444. Police initially allowed the protest to continue before moving to disperse the demonstrators.
However, the unrest continued after the initial dispersal. After midnight, large police forces, including riot police and Border Police, arrived near the yeshiva compounds close to the city entrance, where confrontations resumed. According to student testimonies, forces entered the premises of "Torah B'Tifarta," Rabbi Ettinger's yeshiva, and the "Beit Talmud" collective, using stun grenades within the yeshiva grounds.
A student described the events, stating that police entered and threw grenades indiscriminately within the yeshiva compounds, hitting students who were not involved in the protest or road blockades. He reported that multiple students were injured, with one student bleeding heavily and another requiring hospitalization. The student emphasized that the main grievance was not the dispersal of the protest on the road, but the police actions inside the yeshiva complexes, which he deemed unjustified even if stones or trash bags were thrown at officers.
The background to the unrest is the arrest of a student from "Torah B'Tifarta" who presented himself at a police station in Kfar Saba due to a suspected traffic offense. During the verification of his details, it was discovered he was a deserter from the IDF and was subsequently transferred to military police, receiving a ten-day jail sentence. The arrest had already sparked protests earlier in the day in Kfar Saba and near the Ra'anana junction before spreading to Elad.
