New footage from the police violence on Route 4 near Bnei Brak shows officers, after throwing smoke grenades, running toward protesters and beating them forcefully with batons.
At the same time, Rabbi Yaakov Markowitz, brother of Ponevezh Yeshiva head Rabbi Shmuel Markowitz, was filmed trying to persuade Ramat Gan-Bnei Brak police station commander Superintendent Yuval Shavit to calm the situation.
For several long minutes, Rabbi Markowitz appealed to Shavit and asked him to lower tensions. The commander responded: “We will do everything in coordination." Just a few minutes later, police began forcefully beating the protesters.
Earlier, the leadership of the Jerusalem Faction announced that it was giving full backing to the protesters who were arrested and injured during the demonstration on Route 4, and warned that if what they described as incidents of police violence continue, a petition would be filed with the High Court of Justice against the conduct of the commanding ranks.
In a statement, the faction said that “no use of force will succeed in breaking the spirit of the protesters," and that if the police conduct continues, they will take legal action against those responsible.
At the same time, MK Meir Porush sent an urgent letter to the chairman of the National Security Committee, MK Tzvika Fogel, demanding that an emergency hearing be convened with senior police officials following the events.
According to Porush, there is a significant gap between the handling of ultra-Orthodox protests and police conduct toward other demonstrations.
He claimed that while police had pursued a policy of restraint and patience for months during left-wing protests involving road blockages, in the current case exceptional force was used against the demonstrators.
Porush wrote that the evacuation carried out on Route 4 “crossed every red line" and claimed that its purpose was not to maintain public order but rather to exert pressure and intimidation through force. In his letter, he noted that he had received numerous testimonies and videos describing the use of harsh measures by police officers.
Among other things, Porush described stun grenades being thrown directly toward people sitting on the asphalt, protesters being beaten with batons and aggressively dragged away, leaving injured demonstrators bruised and bleeding with their clothes torn.
He concluded his letter by demanding that police commanders appear before the committee as soon as possible and provide an accounting for what he described as a system of selective enforcement.