With 1 undercover as soldier, police arrest ultra-Orthodox assailants
Cop in IDF uniform walks into Jerusalem's Mea She'arim neighborhood, along with backup; pounce on attackers
Dressed undercover as an IDF soldier, a police officer arrested eight ultra-Orthodox men for attacking him in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem, police said Thursday.
Following a number of incidents in which members of the ultra-Orthodox community assaulted soldiers in that neighborhood, the police sent in the undercover officer to draw out suspected assailants.
When the undercover detective was attacked, his assailants were detained along with others who attempted to prevent the arrest, according to police.
“The Israel Police see with the greatest severity the incitement against and attack of religious soldiers over their service in the IDF,” police said.
Also Thursday, police said they would ask a court to remand in custody a suspect arrested the day before, after he allegedly threw eggs and called names at a soldier in the Mea She’arim area. The suspect, 20, from the town of Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem, was arrested shortly after the incident for assault under aggravated circumstances.
Many in the ultra-Orthodox community shun the mandatory military service that applies to most Israelis, and the community has historically enjoyed blanket exemptions in favor of religious seminary studies. But some in the religious community refuse to even appear at the recruiting office to request such exemptions in protest against the state. Without getting an exemption, those Haredi men are legally considered draft dodgers and open to military detention.
The arrest of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers has raised tensions in the community and a recent series of large demonstrations against the induction of ultra-Orthodox people into the army saw some violent clashes between demonstrators and police.