Tel Aviv police chief appears to fault army for not coordinating soldiers’ Bnei Brak visit

Tel Aviv District police commander Haim Sargaroff tells reporters that two female soldiers who came under attack by a Haredi mob in Bnei Brak this afternoon “did not coordinate” with law enforcement in advance.

The servicewomen, squad commanders at the Education and Youth Corps, had been in the ultra-Orthodox city as part of an official home visit to one of their soldiers. Contrary to some claims, they were not members of the Military Police.

“I won’t elaborate at the moment on what they came to do. They did not coordinate with us,” Sargaroff says, adding that once the soldiers arrived in the neighborhood, they came under attack by members of the Jerusalem Faction, a militant anti-conscription group.

He appears to place partial blame on the army for not notifying police of the soldiers’ entry in advance.

“The moment we know that an army force is entering [a Haredi neighborhood], we are prepared to provide reinforcement, but when they enter without coordinating with us, when they enter and start carrying out an operation, we are only [able to] react,” he says.

According to Sargaroff, the two soldiers found refuge with a law-abiding resident who hid them in a “secure place” while police rushed to the scene and eventually extracted them from the city.

Law enforcement arrived in limited numbers, leaving their police cars and motorcycles unattended while running to the soldiers on foot, Sargaroff says. During this time, rioters “took advantage of the situation” by overturning a patrol car and setting fire to a police motorcycle.

Sargaroff adds that police have so far arrested 22 members of the mob for rioting, attacking officers, throwing stones and burning trash bins.

When asked by a reporter whether police are afraid of entering Haredi areas, Sargaroff strongly denies the accusation. “We are not afraid. We enter any area, at any time, any yeshiva. There is no concern.”