Police Denial Allegedly Aimed to Undermine Jerusalem Faction Alert System

Ashdod police allegedly tried to blur the circumstances of a late-night arrest attempt after a Haredi yeshiva student, who is classified as a draft evader, was stopped at a police checkpoint and police prepared to hand him over to the military police. Once the detention was reported, the Jerusalem Faction’s “Black Flag” warning system issued an alert saying “the kidnappers have arrived,” and dozens of protesters quickly reached the scene, surrounded the officers and objected to the transfer. Faced with the rapid gathering and concern about escalation, police released the man and did not pass him to the military police.

Afterward, however, a very different version spread. Police sources claimed that two arrests had taken place in the city overnight, and that the detainees were secular young men, not yeshiva students. Photos of secular youths in a car were also circulated, apparently to support the claim that the “Black Flag” alert had been triggered by mistaken information.

A review by the Pargod website found that the account mixed up two separate incidents. In one case, the Haredi student was detained for draft evasion and police did intend to transfer him to the military police. In the second, suspects were arrested on property offenses, with no connection to draft evasion and no protest at all. The circulated photos also did not document the attempt to arrest the yeshiva student, but another event.

A senior source familiar with the Jerusalem Faction said this was not just an attempt to explain the incident after the fact, but a move meant to damage the credibility of the “Black Flag” system and reduce future turnout. “This is the first time the police have effectively tried to mislead the system, deny a ‘Black Flag’ report and publish photos from another incident, so people will think the alerts are unreliable and stop showing up,” the source said. “The goal is to create confusion and chaos among the public, so next time people will hesitate before going out.”