Police Still Don’t Know Who Organized the Riot at Justice Solberg’s Home

An indictment filed Sunday in Jerusalem says police still do not know who arranged the buses and minibus that brought rioters to the home of Supreme Court Deputy President Justice Noam Sohlberg in Alon Shvut on June 3. The case was filed in Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court against Nachman Platnik, Avraham Fried and Gershon Hanuch, all aged 21 to 22 and from Beit Shemesh, as well as Shimon Taef, 42, also from Beit Shemesh.

According to the indictment, the unrest was preceded by flyers posted in Bnei Brak announcing a protest near Sohlberg’s home. It says an unidentified person ordered two buses and a minibus to bring people to the site, and that around 8:20 p.m. the vehicles arrived in Alon Shvut. The passengers were led toward the house by an unidentified person, and dozens of people gathered outside, shouting, among other things, “Gevald.”

The indictment says Sohlberg and his wife locked the house doors after the crowd arrived. It alleges that the riot was violent and intended to intimidate the judge over his rulings in petitions concerning the draft of yeshiva students. During the disturbance, the front windshield of the car of his wife, Maera, was broken.

The indictment also says numerous leaflets were thrown into the yard, bearing Sohlberg’s photo and the words, “Mr. Sohlberg, take your hands off the persecution of ultra-Orthodox Jewry.” Blue-and-white flags with swastikas were also thrown into the street. One neighbor was beaten and had his kippah taken away for a time, and some residents thought the incident might be a security attack and went into a protected room. The rioters also ran toward a police patrol car shouting “Nazis” and “We will die and not enlist.”