Rabbi Avraham Idan, head of the Ateret HaLevi yeshiva, said in an interview Sunday night with Radio Kol Hai that he was violently beaten by police during last Thursday’s demonstration in Jerusalem, despite his claim that he did not take part in the demonstrations.
Rabbi Idan is currently under house arrest, even though his son is due to undergo a [circumcision] ceremony today.
According to Rabbi Idan, he was driving through the area where clashes were taking place, with stones and stun grenades being thrown nearby. “One officer signaled me to stop, while another told me to keep going. I continued slowly out of fear, and then stopped,” he said.
He described how the incident escalated rapidly. “I never imagined that a single instruction from a police officer would lead to this,” Idan said, claiming that an officer drew a Taser gun, smashed his car window, and forcibly pulled him out of the vehicle.
Rabbi Idan alleged that the violence continued even after his arrest. “I was sitting handcuffed in the police car, in severe pain, when an officer came in, kneed me, and said: ‘You’re worse than terrorists,’” he recounted. He stressed that he did not resist arrest and pleaded for mercy, particularly because his young son was present at the scene.
The incident, he said, has had a lasting impact on his son, who is now afraid to leave the house and has difficulty sleeping. Rabbi Idan added that he himself is suffering from broken ribs and intense pain, struggling to sleep. He said the most difficult aspect was not the physical injuries, but what he described as the hatred he felt from the police toward the haredi sector.