Police forces clashed with hundreds of rioting hareidi-religious Jews in Jerusalem's Meah Shearim neighborhood Sunday. The hareidim protested the arrests of six suspects whom police believe were involved in a money laundering scheme.

The suspects are described as respected members of the hareidi community. They are believed to have laundered money through an office for collecting donations that they opened in Meah Shearim.

One of the suspects is Amram Shapira, personal assistant to Rav Tuvia Weiss, the Head of the Eida Hareidit Beit Din. Rav Weiss responded sharply to the arrests, saying that they hurt him personally.

Police detained a taxi driver who had been driving around the hareidi neighborhoods in the morning hours, playing a recording announcing the arrests and calling on residents to take part in a demonstration later in the day. The driver said he had been given 100 shekels to broadcast the recording.

 

Police and hareidim, Meah Shearim News 24 news agency