Haredi teen hit by bus and killed; police suspect driver of reckless manslaughter

Police said Wednesday that they had arrested a bus driver who hit and killed a 17-year-old pedestrian near the Hasidic moshav of Komemiyut in south-central Israel on suspicion of a number of offenses including reckless manslaughter.

Medics and paramedics responding to the Tuesday incident on Route 3533 at the Aluma Junction found 17-year-old pedestrian Naftali Zvi Kramer lying on the road with a severe head injury and no vital signs.

As footage filmed from within the bus at the time of the incident circulated online on Wednesday, police said in a statement that the driver would appear in court later in the day for a hearing on his detention, and was suspected of causing death through negligence and endangering human life on a transportation route.

While the video did not seem to show the driver accelerating toward the pedestrians, passengers could be heard expressing concern that the bus was driving too quickly given the large number of boys and young men wandering in the road.

The footage also appeared to show police officers a few meters from where the incident occurred.

The ultra-Orthodox Behadrei Haredim news site said Kramer had been on his way home from one of the protests by Haredi men against the planned autopsies of two babies who were found dead at an unlicensed daycare in Jerusalem. The autopsies were later called off by the High Court of Justice.

הפרגוד: הבחור החשוב נפתלי צבי קרמר ז"ל מבחירי ישיבת סאטמר בקוממיות נהרג בתאונת דרכים מחרידה בכניסה למושב לאחר ששב ממחאה על ניתוחי מתים כהוראת רבותיו. הוא נפטר מספר שבועות לפני יום הולדתו ה- 18. אבל והלם בקהילת סאטמר מפטירתו הטראגית צילום: א. אייזנבאך. [ויסברג בבחדרי] pic.twitter.com/sEfAXBQGUv

— הפרגוד (@moshepargod) January 20, 2026

Police had stressed Tuesday night that, contrary to reports circulating online, there was no connection between the fatal accident and the Haredi protest that ended earlier near Komemiyut.

United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf alleged Wednesday that there was no doubt that the teen was hit “maliciously,” and called for the driver to be brought to justice.

“The new footage, which shows the bus driver accelerating toward the group of protesters, and the passengers stating that he was going wild, leaves no room for doubt that the action was done maliciously,” he said.

הפרגוד: "קול חי" מפרסמים תיעוד מתוך האוטובוס שדרס למוות את הבחור נפתלי צבי קרמר ז"ל סמוך למושב קוממיות מעלה חשד לדריסה מכוונת: מהצילומים והקולות עולה כי הנהג נסע בזיגזוג לעבר בחורי הישיבה, כשמתוך האוטובוס נשמעות קריאות בהלה של נוסעות שמזהות נסיעה פראית לכיוונם. pic.twitter.com/MCLtKGFGM5

— הפרגוד (@moshepargod) January 21, 2026

Goldknopf said that he had spoken about the incident to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who “made it clear” to him that “he views the matter very seriously and that the Israel Police will do its job faithfully and investigate the incident to the fullest.”

“Ben Gvir emphasized in the conversation that ‘the blood of our Haredi brothers is not cheap,'” Goldknopf said, demanding that “the driver of the hit-and-run be brought to justice.”

Earlier Tuesday, a Haredi teen was moderately injured when he was hit by a car while sitting on the road in Jerusalem during a protest.

Footage from that incident showed that the teen was unlikely to have been in the driver’s line of vision.

The Komemiyut incident was the second time this month that a Haredi teen has been struck by a bus and killed.

Two weeks ago, Yosef Eisenthal, 14, was killed when a bus drove into Haredi protesters as tens of thousands attended an anti-conscription demonstration in Jerusalem. The bus driver said the crowd assaulted him shortly before the incident.