Ultra-Orthodox man wanted in attack on soldier nabbed trying to flee country

An ultra-Orthodox man suspected of attacking an IDF soldier was arrested Wednesday morning at Ben Gurion International Airport as he attempted to flee the country, police said.

The man was the fourth suspect to be arrested in connection with two separate violent assaults on Israeli soldiers in protest of the IDF drafting members of the ultra-Orthodox community into the mandatory military service.

Last week, police arrested two ultra-Orthodox men and one teen suspected of perpetrating the attacks, and put out an arrest warrant for a fourth man identified as one of the attackers.

After his arrest, the suspect was brought in for questioning at the Beit Shemsh police department and was scheduled to appear before a judge for a remand hearing later on Wednesday.

“The Israel Police takes incidents of incitement and attacks against soldiers wearing kippas or police officers very seriously, and works hard to identify and arrest those involved,” a statement from police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

Citing the “grave nature of the actions attributed to the suspects,” the statement said a special team was set up to lead the investigation into the recent attacks.

“Police will not hesitate to continue taking a firm hand against anyone who attacks those in uniform anywhere, and will act to take criminal proceedings against them and bring them to justice,” she said.

Many in the ultra-Orthodox community shun the mandatory military service that applies to most Israelis, and they have historically enjoyed blanket exemptions in favor of religious seminary studies.

Reforms passed in the Knesset in 2014 and later rolled back in 2015 sought to do away with the exemptions and gradually increase ultra-Orthodox recruitment.

Although many ultra-Orthodox men have joined the IDF, their service is often reviled by members of their own community, leading to incidents of assault on ultra-Orthodox soldiers.

According to police, on November 11 an ultra-Orthodox IDF soldier walking in Beit Shemesh was set upon by a crowd of Haredi protesters. During the assault another IDF soldier, a serving ultra-Orthodox officer who was on leave from the army, was driving past with his family and stopped to help.

He left the vehicle and went to extract the other soldier but the crowd then attacked him and his vehicle instead, throwing stones at the car and preventing him from driving away.

Police did not report any injuries in the incident.

A week earlier earlier, during a protest against the arrest of an ultra-Orthodox draft-dodger, dozens of Haredi men blocked roads and threw stones, injuring a policeman in Beit Shemesh. Similar protests were held at the same time in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem.

Stuart Winer contributed to this report.