Highway 4 Protest Near Bnei Brak Ends in Violent Police Clash

A group of Haredim affiliated with the “Jerusalem Faction” blocked Highway 4 this morning (Wednesday) at the entrance to Bnei Brak, protesting the arrests of Torah students. As a result, traffic from the Em HaMoshavot Interchange to the Aluf Sadeh Junction was blocked for about an hour and a half.

Police forces were called to the scene and instructed the protesters to leave the road and allow traffic to move. When they did not comply, officers began dispersing the demonstration by force. Footage from the scene shows police throwing stun grenades, charging at protesters, hitting them with batons, and dragging them off the road while tearing their clothes. One officer was filmed kicking a protester in the head. United Hatzalah said eight people were lightly injured and required medical treatment.

Police said: “Police forces acted to maintain public order during an illegal demonstration held on Highway 4 near Bnei Brak. A police officer at the scene declared the gathering an illegal protest, and despite attempts at dialogue, those disturbing the peace continued to gather there, blocked traffic lanes, delayed vehicles, and caused heavy traffic congestion.”

“During the incident, some of those disturbing the peace even went underneath vehicles in an effort to prevent them from continuing their travel and to disrupt the reopening of the road to traffic. As a result, crowd-dispersal measures were used and the road was cleared. During the operation, five rioters were arrested. Israel Police will continue to act decisively to maintain public order, freedom of movement, and the safety of road users, and will not allow the blocking of major traffic routes or the endangerment of road users.”

Following the footage showing the use of force to disperse the protesters, Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri appealed to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir with a call to “wake up”: “It cannot be that what the police did not do on Kaplan against anarchists who sought to destroy the state, they are now doing against citizens crying out that they have been turned into criminals simply because they study Torah. You know that we oppose demonstrations, but we cannot stand by in the face of this injustice and this severe violence. You have proven that when something matters to you, you know how to activate the police. Get up now and stop the police violence against Torah students.”

MK Meir Porush of United Torah Judaism also criticized the police: “The police’s conduct this morning does not match the conduct of a police force in a state under Jewish rule, nor of a police force in a country that claims to be a democracy. Violent dispersal of a protest like we saw this morning is something we know from Turkey and Iran. The police commissioner, and every officer or commander whose hand was involved, should go home today!”

MK Yoav Tzur (Shas) responded: “The shocking footage from this morning, showing police using brutal violence and injuring Haredi protesters until they were bleeding heavily, exposes the painful truth. Israel Police is operating a selective and discriminatory enforcement system. At Kaplan they make announcements over loudspeakers to protesters, while at Haredi demonstrations they use batons, stun grenades, and disproportionate force.”

​“The role of the police is to maintain public order through reasonable and restrained force, not to exploit the uniform in order to trample the law and tear public trust to shreds. ​I call on the national security minister to investigate police policy today and summon for clarification the violent officers who crossed a red line. These are protesters, not terrorists. Haredi blood is not ownerless.”

National Security Minister Ben Gvir said in response: “Recently there has been an increase in incidents in which stun grenades were used against a civilian population not in accordance with procedures, and therefore I will hold an urgent discussion on the matter in order to ensure that stun grenades are used only in exceptional cases and in accordance with police procedures. If their use is not limited to these cases, there will be no stun grenades in the police.”