From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Court extends detention of man who ran over Haredi protester blocking road
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court extends the detention of a suspect who hit an ultra-Orthodox man with his car during an anti-draft protest by three days, following his arrest for reckless driving, negligence following an accident, and other offenses.
According to the Israel Police, the 47-year-old suspect, identified by public broadcaster Kan as Shai Levy, was arrested after driving into a crowd blocking the highway at the entrance to Jerusalem and hitting the demonstrator.
The victim sustained minor injuries.
Declaring that they would rather die than enlist in the IDF, a crowd of ultra-Orthodox men blocked the tracks of the Jerusalem light rail on Jaffa Street yesterday before making their way to the entrance of the city near the Chords Bridge and blocking the road.
תיעוד דרמטי מירושלים: נהג דרס מפגין שניסה לחסום אותו בהפגנת הפלג הירושלמי בנושא חוק הגיוס
https://t.co/9bPvNU1TtV pic.twitter.com/0r2RWGyvor
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) March 18, 2024
The demonstrators, who belonged to the Jerusalem Faction, an extremist Haredi group numbering some 60,000 members, were protesting efforts to end their community’s longtime exemption from military service.
The police dispersed the rioters with force after they disobeyed law enforcement officers’ instructions, the police stated.
The Times of Israel Community.