State Indicts 17 Ultra-Orthodox Protesters Over Clash at Military Police Chief's Home

Israel's State Prosecutor filed an indictment in Ashkelon Magistrate's Court against 17 defendants, including four minors, over a protest at the home of the head of the Military Police, known as the Kamatzar, in Ashkelon. The rally was held about a month and a half ago against the enlistment of yeshiva students into the IDF.

According to the charges, at least dozens of demonstrators gathered near the house in the evening and displayed signs reading, "War on the enlistment law, with deeds and not with words!" Soon after the protest began, some of them broke through the locked entrance gate and entered the yard, while the officer's wife and two of his children were inside the home.

The indictment says dozens of protesters, including the defendants, entered the yard, porch and entrance steps, with some sitting or standing while holding hands. They sang protest songs, waved signs and shouted insults against the Kamatzar and the IDF, while the family remained trapped inside and unable to leave safely as more protesters crowded the street-facing entrance.

Prosecutors said the family feared for their safety, lowered the shutters, locked the front door and called police. Officers ended the disturbance and arrested the defendants. The indictment also says the gate-locking mechanism was damaged, parts of the house wall were broken, and the porch tiles and nearby plants were damaged. The total damage was estimated at thousands of shekels. The defendants were charged with riot, trespassing to commit an offense and malicious damage.