A video showing a policeman pulling a haredi protester by his peyot aroused outrage after being publicized on social networks on Monday.
The video was filmed by Kikar HaShabbat site photographer Chaim Goldberg, and has provoked many reactions in recent hours.
"Israeli police officers pulled the sidelocks of a haredi Jew. If such an incident took place in Europe, the whole country would stand and cry 'anti-Semitism'," haredi journalist Avi Ravina tweeted.
Minister Aryeh Deri said in response to the video, "The disgraceful spectacle of a police officer forcefully pulling a herei's peyot during arrest should shake every Israeli.
"A direct line connects the severe and unbridled incitement we're witnessing toward the haredi public and these scenes. I hope this incident will serve as a stop sign and mark an immediate change in the way the discourse is directed toward the haredi public," Deri added.
The Israel Police responded: "The material was transferred to the Police Investigation Division and at the same time it was decided to remove the policeman from his post immediately until the circumstances were clarified."