17 Charged Over Protest and Trespass at Military Police Chief’s Home in Ashkelon

Israeli prosecutors filed charges on Monday in Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court against 17 defendants, including four minors, over rioting and trespassing at the home of the head of the Military Police, in a protest against drafting yeshiva students into the IDF. The indictment was submitted by attorney Hila Klaper Cohen of the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the indictment, about six weeks ago dozens of ultra-Orthodox protesters gathered near the officer’s home in Ashkelon. They carried signs, including one reading, “Fight the enlistment law, with deeds not words.” The state says that shortly after the protest began, some demonstrators broke through the locked entrance gate and entered the yard.

The indictment says dozens of them reached the porch and front steps, sat and stood there, sang protest songs, and shouted insults against the Military Police chief and the IDF. At the time, the officer’s wife and two of their children, including one minor, were inside the house. The family reportedly feared being harmed, locked the front door, closed the shutters, and called police.

Prosecutors also allege damage to the gate’s locking mechanism, the home’s wall, porch tiles, and plants on the property, with total losses estimated at thousands of shekels. Police stopped the disturbance and arrested the suspects. Along with the indictment, prosecutors asked the court to set release conditions for the defendants until the proceedings continue.