Bnei Brak mob attack may have occurred after resident called Jerusalem Faction hotline

This afternoon’s mob attack on two female IDF servicewomen in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak may have occurred after a resident called a telephone hotline run by the Jerusalem Faction to wrongly claim that they were attempting to deliver conscription orders.

The servicewomen serve as squad commanders at the Education and Youth Corps’ Havat Hashomer training base. They were in Beni Brak as part of an official home visit to one of their soldiers. Contrary to some claims, they were not from the Military Police.

At 1:43 p.m., shortly before video of the incident was shared online, a hotline set up by the hardline ultra-Orthodox group to provide a “national alert system” on IDF operations against draft dodgers sent subscribers an email stating that “military police soldiers are now roaming around Bnei Brak handing out conscription orders” and that there were “riots in several locations.”

A subsequent email, sent after the incident, appeared to confirm that the Jerusalem Faction had been involved in gathering the mob that attacked the soldiers.

“During the morning hours, several reports were received by our system regarding soldiers arriving to deliver enlistment orders to yeshiva students,” the email said. “At 1 p.m., upon the conclusion of the study session in yeshivas and kollels, the ‘Color Black’ system issued an update and warning to the public. Simultaneously, a large crowd gathered to protest the persecution of the Torah world. We regret the use of exceptional violence by police forces and the dissemination of lies and fabrications, which led to a general loss of control and inappropriate conduct.”

Speaking with The Times of Israel, a spokesman for the Jerusalem Faction denies any connection with the incident, stating that the riots were “not something organized.”

“I don’t know what caused it. I have no idea. I don’t know what it was about,” he says. “I have no idea what happened there, but I can only understand that today people in military uniforms are coming into Bnei Brak… it could raise everyone’s eyebrows, the fear that they might be coming to arrest yeshiva boys.”

After being shown screenshots of the emails received by The Times of Israel, the spokesman shares an audio clip circulating on ultra-Orthodox news groups on WhatsApp in which a man can be heard saying that he called the hotline after the two soldiers knocked on his door in order to present him with an enlistment order.

But he insists that the protesters “are all from the mainstream” of the Haredi community.