Dummy dressed as soldier hanged in effigy in Meah Sharim
Dummy dressed as soldier hanged in effigy in Meah SharimFlash90

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit approved on Monday a police request to investigate the wave of incitement by haredi radical anti-Zionists of the Eida Hacharedis group against haredi service members.

Since the Draft Law, which limits the ability of yeshiva students to defer military service, was first proposed in 2013, anti-Zionist extremists within the haredi community have targeted haredi soldiers, labelling them “Hardakim” – a portmanteau of “haredi”, “harak” (bug), and “haydak” (germ).

Despite the growing wave of harassment against haredi soldiers, no investigation into incitement by the “Hardak” campaign was ever approved.

During the Purim festival, a number of anti-Zionist extremists hanged haredi soldiers in effigy in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, prompting outrage among many in the haredi community and leading to renewed requests by police to investigate those responsible.

According to haredi website Behadrei Haredim, police opened the first ever investigation into incitement by the “Hardak” campaign, following the Attorney General’s decision.

Eida Hacharedis members do not accept any benefits from the state, do not vote and run their own school system.