Dozens of chareidi extremists staged a volatile protest outside the Bnei Brak home of UTJ MK Rabbi Yaakov Asher—just hours after Shas MK Rabbi Yoav Ben Tzur survived a frightening assault in Yerushalayim that left his car smashed and police scrambling to rescue him.
Police vehicles lined the narrow Bnei Brak streets as the disorganized crowd gathered outside MK Asher’s home, chanting and shouting over the coalition’s controversial conscription bill. Though the demonstration did not reach the level of violence seen in Yerushalayim, the atmosphere was tense, and officers remained on edge as protesters pressed against barriers.
The Bnei Brak protest came on the heels of a shocking incident earlier in the evening, when a mob of extremist chareidim surrounded MK Ben Tzur’s vehicle as he left a weekly shiur delivered by HaRav Yitzchak Yosef. Footage from the scene showed the crowd swarming the car—smashing the windshield, throwing garbage bags, ripping off the license plate, and even jumping onto the vehicle.
Witnesses described the violent attack as an “attempted lynching.” Police officers eventually pulled Ben Tzur from the chaos. He was physically unharmed, but his vehicle sustained significant damage. Police later confirmed that dozens of rioters had “ambushed an elected official,” calling it a serious attempt to harm a public servant.
Shas issued a sharply worded statement condemning the attack as “a severe act of violence carried out by a small group of rioters,” calling the behavior a chillul Hashem and emphasizing that it “is not the way of the Torah.”
The extremists appear to have targeted both MK Ben Tzur and MK Asher due to their involvement in ongoing coalition discussions surrounding the government’s proposed draft bill. While chareidi leaders have long opposed any effort to conscript large numbers of yeshiva bochurim, mainstream representatives have been participating in negotiations—a move that has drawn fury from fringe factions who reject any compromise.
Police say they dispersed the rioters and are actively working to identify and arrest the attackers, with Border Police units involved in the response. The force said it views the events with utmost seriousness and will not tolerate violence against elected officials.
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9 Responses
Protests are legal in a democracy.
Is the State of Israel a democracy or a dictatorship?
@ujm: violent assault isn’t protest. and mob rule isn’t democracy. give your head a shake.
it’s reassuring to see an attack on a utj mk, lest the protestors be accused of only attacking shas. if we’re going to kill each other, let’s at least not discriminate!
ujm, i have rarely seen so illiterate a comment. While protests are legal in a democracy like the state of Israel, violent attacks on people or property are not. Learn how to read before commenting.
Whata chillul Hashem.Instead of learning thora.They rather should go to the Army.And what died the gedolei Hatora say? did they accept this violent people that call them self chareidim Busha
@ujm: violence is not legal protest, judging of what happened to Ben Zur yesterday, similar violence could have erupted in Bnei Brak as well.
Protest against “Shluche D’Rabonon” who received detailed instructions from our Gedolim maybe legal in secular law but a CHILLUL HASHEM and therefore AGAINST TORAH LAW!
Joseph Goebbels,
You should be tuned over to Germany for prosecution as an anti-Semitic Nazi, just like your close relative was. You’re not even Jewish.
ujm – If we had a King and a Sanhedrin and real Shoftim veShotrim, and some wild kids would do something like this, what would happen? They would probably be arrested and get some Makkos Mardus on their rear end… There are lots of things wrong with the State, and even with the Chareidi politicians, but on which planet is this Kosher behavior?
I watched this clip a few times and i even paused it to be sure of what i was seeing- the cops are the ones beating up and chasing after the bochrim here, at list in the clip shown above. police brutality is certainly illegal in a democratic society.
But this is typical, the charedim stage a protest lsheim shamayim, the anti-god cops come and beat them silly, then the news sites twist the entire story and then lastly all “ingenious” commenters start sharing their wisdom. who is chasing who in this video again !????
can we all stop believing everything as it is FED to us and start using the brain Hashem gave us…. ridiculous