A heated discussion took place in the Knesset plenum regarding the police violence toward innocent passersby in the wake of the unrest in Bnei Brak on Sunday, after Shas MK Moshe Abutbul submitted a motion to place the issue on the agenda.

MK Abutbul slammed the police’s conduct, saying, “Someone conveyed to the police that it’s okay to trample the Chareidi public, that their blood is hefker. Nothing justifies indiscriminately beating innocent people, even if some individuals acted violently.”

Abutbul presented testimonies and videos showing police officers arbitrarily beating bystanders, women, and minors. He also read the testimony of educator Rabbi Mordechai Fisch, who saw innocent residents being beaten up by police from the window of his home. He said that police forces swarmed in with great force after the incident had already ended and randomly assaulted residents who happened to be in the area.

“I saw an avreich passing by, and they grabbed him by his neck and slammed him onto the sidewalk,” Rabbi Fisch said, adding that the quick release of the detainees proved that they were beaten and arrested without cause.

In an unusual step, Likud Minister David Amsalem, the government’s liaison to the Knesset, stepped out of his official role to express his personal position, slamming the treatment of the Chareidi public: “We’ve reached a situation in which racism and intolerable violence are directed at the Chareidi community,” he cried out. “This is antisemitism perpetrated by Jews, and it shocks me.”

Amsalem compared the current atmosphere in the country to historical antisemitic incitement against Jews in Galus to divert attention from internal problems: “Today, the Chareidim are the ones being trampled. You can do whatever you want to them. The left’s political platform is beating and starving the Chareidim, garnering votes via the hatred of Chareidim—creating a reality in which violence against them is increasingly normalized.”

MK Abutbul concluded his remarks by demanding equal police treatment: “The law in Bnei Brak must be the same as the law at Kaplan. Jewish blood isn’t hefker.” He stressed that the Chareidi public respects the police but will not accept collective punishment.

At the end of the debate, the plenum approved—by a vote of 5 to 2—to transfer the matter for an in-depth discussion to the Knesset Public Inquiries Committee.

On Tuesday, UTJ MK Uri Maklev spoke in the Knesset plenum and slammed police leadership, saying that police conduct in Bnei Brak turned into an organized “revenge campaign” that harmed innocent civilians.

“Police criminality carried out under orders and with officers’ approval is more serious than civilian criminality,” Maklev began.

“We saw collective punishment. Beating passersby—women and children—and throwing dozens of stun grenades at innocent civilians is not maintaining order; it is violence for its own sake.”

He added that in the age of digital documentation, the police can no longer hide behind contradictory versions: “Today everything is recorded in black and white. This isn’t just accusations—there’s evidence.”

“The police need to ask themselves—is their message to beat bystanders until they bleed? This violence only creates a cycle of revenge and harms the ability to isolate the extremists,” he warned.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)