Haredim from the radical Jerusalem Faction demonstrated on Wednesday afternoon at four locations. The demonstrations come as the police intend to hand 19 draft dodging haredi yeshiva students over to the IDF after they were arrested last week following the riot outside the home of Supreme Court President Justice Noam Sohlberg.
Protesters gathered outside the jail in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem, in Bnei Brak, and in Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv. Protesters from Beit Shemesh and southern Israel travelled to demonstrate outside Nitzan Prison in Ramla. In the Sharon region, protesters gathered outside Hadarim Prison and on Route 4 between Netanya and Ra'anana.
Exactly a week ago, dozens of extremists gathered outside Justice Noam Sohlberg's home in Alon Shvut, Gush Etzion, where they rioted in protest of the arrests of draft dodgers and the draft exemption bill. During the incident, which occurred while the judge and his family were at home, rioters broke windows and caused extensive property damage. Security forces arrested dozens of rioters.
Meira, the judge's wife, told the press after the attack: "I have no other land, I am not going anywhere, even if my land is burning now. We will continue on the right path. Jews can't do this to each other. We are children of Holocaust survivors. This is how Jews hurt each other? How could this be? It's a pogrom. What is this, Kristallnacht?"
Jerusalem Faction Leader Azriel Auerbach called for the intensification of protests: "Now is not the time to whisper, and there is a double obligation to protest the desecration of the Torah."