Cop injured, 3 rioters arrested as hundreds decry Haredi draft dodger’s arrest outside Ofakim police

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men rallied earlier this evening outside the police station in Ofakim and blocked the entrance to the southern city to protest the arrest of a Haredi draft dodger, police say.

The man, who reportedly spent Shabbat at the home of his in-laws in the nearby Moshav Tifrah after he got married two months ago, was arrested after being stopped by traffic police, with the cops determining that he has received a call-up order and ignored it. He has been handed to military police and is expected to come before a judge Sunday.

Police say they arrested three of the protesters who encircled the police station to demand the draft dodger’s arrest. They say a policeman was lightly injured after a stone was thrown at him.

However, the Ynet news site reports that the detainees — not including the draft evader — were released in exchange for the demonstrators dispersing.