Cops filmed beating extremist Haredi protesters with batons in Beit Shemesh
Police commissioner says incident ‘goes against the values’ of the force; Yesh Atid MK decries ‘very serious police violence’
Police officers were filmed on Monday beating extremist Haredi protesters with batons in Beit Shemesh, during a protest against an academic fair for ultra-Orthodox students being held at a nearby community center.
In the video, an officer can be heard asking whether “there’s authorization?” — apparently to use force to clear the demonstrators — and after another shouts back in the affirmative, several cops can be seen striking the ultra-Orthodox men to eject them from the area.
Police Commissioner Daniel Levy later issued a statement saying that he had ordered the immediate opening of an investigation into the incident in the Ramat Beit Shemesh Dalat neighborhood, which he said “goes against the values of the Israel Police.”
“If it turns out during the inspection that the police officers acted illegally, they will be dealt with severely,” said Levy, who began his term as police chief last month.
Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharrar called for an investigation into the “very serious” police violence.
“Police violence is prohibited in Tel Aviv, Beit Shemesh and anywhere else in a democratic country,” she wrote on X, referring to multiple recent instances of cops using force against anti-government protesters and relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
תיעוד סוער וקשה: שוטרים מכים בעוצמה בעזרת אלות בקבוצת החרדים הקיצונים המפגינים מול מתנ"ס דורות בשכונת רמת בית שמש ד' מול אירוע המתקיים שלא לרוחם במקום • צפו: pic.twitter.com/KHM3BzPvpb
— בית שמש חדשות (@shemeshnews) September 23, 2024
Ramat Beit Shemesh Dalat has seen numerous demonstrations like Monday’s, with protesters posting modesty signs, tearing down Israeli flags and marching through the area harassing residents, though the violence has abated in recent years.
Last August, dozens of extremists rioted outside a local school while then-Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch was touring the building, hurling objects, starting a fire and vandalizing her car — effectively holding her hostage for nearly two hours until she was rescued by police.
Extremists also burned down a cellphone store in the more moderate English-speaking neighborhood of Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef earlier this year.
