Haredi rioters overturn army car while sabotaging efforts to arrest draft dodger
A mob of ultra-Orthodox rioters attacked military police in Ashdod on Monday night, after the officers attempted to arrest a haredi draft dodger in the neighborhood.I hope the police are going to seek out and make arrests, but for now, it's galling that they just left the scene of the crime without making any. If they'd put serious monitoring staff on hand, riot squads included, in the enclaves, they could prevent some of this from happening.
Dozens of ultra-Orthodox protesters threatened the military officers with violence and even overturned their squad car in the middle of the road, as well as pelted it with stones.
The military called on the local police in Ashdod for assistance in fending off the rioters. Police helped rescue the military officers and subdue the ultra-Orthodox mob, but left the scene about an hour later without making any arrests.
[...] Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon commented on the riot, saying that the "violent attack against IDF soldiers who arrived in Ashdod to carry out their mission, and against the police officers called in to assist them, is intolerable and demands a tough response against the rioters. We must not tolerate this extremist minority of lawbreakers. Anyone who raises a hand against an IDF soldier -- or behaves violently in general -- must be punished severely.
"I expect haredi leaders to condemn this violent incident, which completely contradicts the trend of integration of young haredim into the IDF and the workforce in a manner that contributes both to haredi society and to the State of Israel."
Update: deputy defense minister Eli Ben-Dahan commented.
Labels: haredi corruption, Israel, military, Moonbattery