Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Cohen condemns police treatment of ultra-Orthodox protesters

A day after the 4 Highway protest by the Haredi faction caused major traffic blockages and drew widespread condemnation, Chief Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Cohen released a sharp response video on Thursday morning. His remarks came after police leadership and the police commissioner were reportedly shocked by the violent images from the protest.

Cohen addressed Israel’s police directly, urging them to act according to moral reciprocity: “Do good, and good will return to you. Do the opposite, and the opposite will return to you. In life, we see these things.” He accused police of selective enforcement, contrasting the treatment of this demonstration with the Kaplan protests, which he said included blocking Ayalon Highway, burning tires, blocking ambulances, climbing on cars and causing damage without police violence.

He said that when other demonstrators protest, police “beat them, strike them, tear their clothes, and abuse them,” describing an officer standing over a Haredi man on the ground and asking why a person should be mistreated simply because he dresses differently. Cohen also argued that the ultra-Orthodox protesters are acting for the future of the country, unlike those who, he said, called for refusal to serve and contributed to “the big massacre in the south.”

At the height of his remarks, Cohen said that anyone who throws a yeshiva student to the ground is judged in heaven “as if he threw a Torah scroll on the ground.” He called the student “a living Torah scroll” and said injuring him is like tearing a Torah scroll. He ended by blessing officers who show sensitivity and compassion, and urged them to stop colleagues who abuse others, citing the biblical commandment, “Do not stand idly by your neighbor’s blood,” and calling for unity and peace among all parts of the Jewish people.