First indictments filed over riot outside Supreme Court Justice Solberg’s home

Ten days after the violence outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, Israel’s State Attorney filed the first indictments on Tuesday morning. The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court received charges against Nachman Platnik, 20, Avraham Fried, 20, Gershon Hanon, 21, and Shimon Atfah, 41, all from Beit Shemesh, over their alleged role in the riot outside Solberg’s house in Alon Shvut.

According to the indictment, filed by attorney Ariel Iluz of the Jerusalem District Prosecutor’s Office, a call for a protest near the judge’s home was circulated after rulings dealing with enforcement of military draft obligations on yeshiva students. More than 100 people arrived at the scene, including the defendants. The gathering then escalated into a violent disturbance around the house.

The indictment says the home’s windows were smashed, damage was caused to a vehicle and other property, stones were thrown at the house, the road leading to it was blocked at various times, and some participants entered the yard and adjacent parking area. During the incident, leaflets and flags were thrown, one of the judge’s neighbors was attacked, and a police car that arrived was forced to pull back after participants ran toward it while shouting.

All four defendants are charged with rioting, and two of them are also charged with trespass. In his remand request, Iluz described the case as “serious, exceptional and unprecedented,” saying it involved a violent riot outside a judge’s home that damaged property “because of his judicial role as a Supreme Court judge.” Authorities have not yet detained the suspects who allegedly smashed the windows and the judge’s car.