UTJ party leader MK Uri Maklev sent a letter to Knesset Speaker MK Amir Ohana on Wednesday, demanding that an emergency Knesset discussion be held on an urgent proposal for the agenda on the topic: “A severe phenomenon of the ramming of protesters—two dead and four injured.”

This follows a series of serious incidents that occurred in recent weeks during Chareidi protests across the country, including two on Tuesday, the killing of a bochur near Komemiyut, and the ramming of a bochur in Jerusalem, leaving him seriously injured.

In his appeal, MK Uri Maklev warned of a dangerous escalation in violence against Chareidim, stating that “this is an alarming and grave phenomenon that invites further violent acts and demands an unequivocal, firm public protest.”

“Silence in the face of such cases could lead to an intensification of the violence and it becoming a dangerous norm,” he warned.

Maklev emphasized that not all those harmed in these incidents were protesters, saying that in some cases, passersby who had no connection to the protests were injured. “When vehicles plow people down in a protest area, there is no distinction between protesters and passersby, and the danger to human life is real and immediate,” he wrote.

He added that ongoing incitement in the media against Chareidim fuels violence and legitimizes physical harm to citizens. “When public discourse normalizes incitement, real-world violence inevitably follows.”

Maklev also pointed to serious failures by law enforcement and public safety authorities, noting that “instead of drawing lessons and taking responsibility, at times enforcement authorities attempt to downplay or cover up failures—something that deepens mistrust and harms citizens’ sense of security.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also slammed the incitement against Chareidim in a post he published on Tuesday. “My heart is with the dear Kramer family in their difficult hour, and I send heartfelt condolences over the deep tragedy in which their son, Naftali Tzvi Kramer, z’l, was killed. There are no words that can comfort such pain. Am Yisrael embraces you.”

‘I fully back the Israel Police, which acted resolutely to locate and arrest the driver who ran over [the victim]. Anyone who chose to drive recklessly in a manner that led to the taking of a human life must be punished with the full severity of the law. I trust the police to carry out their work to the end.”

“And from here a clear message to my Chareidi brothers and sisters: your blood is not hefker. We will not allow such cases to pass in silence, and we will ensure that such grave incidents are handled firmly, decisively, and without compromise.”

The Peleg Yerushalmi group issued a statement on Wednesday saying, “The footage from inside the bus leaves no room for doubt that this was an intentional ramming incident against a group of yeshiva students who were protesting on the road leading to Komemiyut, a ramming that led to direct injury and the shocking killing of the Satmar yeshiva student, Naftali Tzvi Kramer, z’l, 18.”

The statement continued: “The blood is on the hands of the police, who in a reckless and brutal manner immediately shirked their most basic duty—to investigate the murder of a young boy. The police statement—issued on autopilot just minutes after the event—claiming that this was not an intentional ramming, and their continued insistence on this even this morning, provides a real glimpse into the police’s attitude toward human life within the Chareidi sector—the same attitude that time and again provides horrifying footage reminiscent of dark regimes: police officers and senior commanders choking children and teenagers; harassing Chareidi girls and women who found themselves near protest areas; spraying pepper gas from water cannons; and using batons and excessive violence without cause. This is the same police force that buried and dragged out many ramming cases at demonstrations in recent years (three of them in just the past day…), cases accompanied by footage that also leaves no doubt—and some of which even received wide media exposure.”

“The blood is on the hands of the judicial system and the prosecution, which cheapens the blood of the Chareidi public with absurd and outrageous lenient rulings against criminal drivers who intentionally ran over and killed Chareidi youths.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)