Tax Authority freezes war compensation claims in Bnei Brak after attacks on staff
Footage shows Haredi residents throwing objects at car apparently carrying officials; tax chief demands public apology from municipality before work resumes on damage
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The Tax Authority will stop processing compensation claims regarding war damage in the largely ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak until the city’s leadership publicly condemns recent attacks on the authority’s employees, director Shay Aharonovich said on Friday.
Bnei Brak, a Tel Aviv suburb, was the target of several missile attacks during the wars with Iran this year and last, causing widespread damage to civilian infrastructure and deaths.
In a letter to Bnei Brak Mayor Hanoch Zeibert, Aharonovich said Tax Authority employees who came to the city on Thursday were “violently attacked” by hundreds of people while carrying out their duties and had to be extracted by police. He noted that the incident came just a week after another alleged assault on Tax Authority employees in the city.
Videos circulating online documenting one of the incidents show crowds of Haredi men surrounding and throwing projectiles at a civilian vehicle, presumably with Tax Authority employees inside, as police officers attempt to help the driver navigate to safety.
Aharonovich criticized the city’s government for failing to condemn either incident, writing that he has “no choice but to conclude that Tax Authority employees are not welcome in your city.”
He said he therefore instructed the Tax Authority to halt all processing of compensation claims submitted by Bnei Brak residents until the municipality issues “an unequivocal statement of condemnation” and publishes it across ultra-Orthodox media.
בצעד חריג רשות המסים מקפיאה את הסיוע לתושבי בני ברק שביתם נפגע במלחמת איראן, בעקבות תקיפת פקחי המס בעיר.
מנהל רשות המסים כתב לראש העיר: "עיריית בני ברק לא מצאה לנכון לגנות את האלימות. אין לי אלא להסיק כי עובדי רשות המסים אינם רצויים בעירך. הוריתי לחדול מטיפול בנזקי מלחמה לתושבי… pic.twitter.com/z0DmOY8A6I— שילה פריד???????? (@shilofreid) July 17, 2026
Residents of the city have often clashed with authorities.
Also on Thursday, hundreds of extremist Haredi men blocked roads in central Israel in protest of recent arrests of Haredi draft evaders, during which they clashed with police forces and members of the public.
In February, two female soldiers came under attack by hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men in Bnei Brak, who chased after the pair as police spirited them out of the Haredi city.
The Times of Israel Community.