Police rescue soldier whose car was stoned in ultra-Orthodox neighborhood
Jerusalem cops hunting for perpetrators after dozens of Mea Shearim residents pelt driver in army uniform with rocks, garbage
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A soldier was rescued by cops on Monday after he drove his car into the predominantly ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim and was pelted with stones and garbage, police said.
The uniformed man was driving through the neighborhood when several dozen ultra-Orthodox extremists began pelting his car with rocks and other objects.
Police were able to help him escape without injury and began searching for those involved in the incident.
Some members of the ultra-Orthodox community are violently opposed to army service and the military in general.
Over the years, there have been frequent demonstrations by Haredi Jews against the draft. There have also been cases of soldiers getting harassed and even assaulted when entering ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem.
In January, a man was arrested on suspicion that he was part of a group of ultra-Orthodox men who threw rocks at a car driven by a soldier in the town of Beit Shemesh, causing him to crash. The 21-year-old soldier was driving through the Ramat Beit Shemesh neighborhood of the city when a group of ultra-Orthodox men started throwing rocks and bags of trash at his car. Police said the soldier lost control of the vehicle and drove into a lamppost.
Last June a former Knesset member’s soldier son was attacked in the capital’s Mea Shearim neighborhood.
Judah Ari Gross and Stuart Winer contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.