MK Avigdor Lieberman, the chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee and the head of the right wing heavily Russian Yisrael
Beiteinu Party, attacked haredi leaders for their silence in the
aftermath of the haredi mob attack on a haredi soldier in Jerusalem’s
Mea Shearim neighborhood yesterday.
MK Avigdor Lieberman
Lieberman: Attack On Haredi Soldier By Haredi Mob Extremely Severe, But So Is The Silence Of Haredi Rabbis And Political Leaders About The Attack
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
MK Avigdor Lieberman, the chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the head of the right wing heavily Russian Yisrael Beiteinu Party, attacked haredi leaders for their silence in the aftermath of the haredi mob attack on a haredi soldier in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood yesterday.
The soldier had come to the neighborhood to visit relatives and was attacked by a mob police estimate to have numbered between 100 and 150 haredim. The soldier was able to flee to relative safety in a small apartment building where he called police, took off his uniform, and changed into civilian clothes in an attempt to disguise himself.
Special riot police, a police commando unit and the border patrol worked to extricate the soldier and themselves came under attack from the haredi mob which hurled stones, chairs and other objects at them.
The soldier was rescued, shaken but not seriously harmed.
However, the haredi riot against police continued.
Despite the extent of the haredi violence and its relatively long duration, only four arrests were made. Police say they hope that video footage and photos of the riot will lead to more arrests soon.
"This incident should be viewed with extreme severity. It is no less serious than the fact that the heads of the haredi community have yet to denounce it as a horrific event,” Lieberman said according to a brief report in Ynet, adding that if no action is taken soon, he will promote lightening legislation to prevent similar attacks from happening in the future.
Haredi physical attacks on haredi soldiers have become common the last several months as politicians prepared a plan to draft haredi yeshiva students for the first time in the history of the state.
Haredi leaders strongly oppose any draft of haredi yeshiva students, even if the students can choose national civilian service – teaching in a preschool or working in a nursing home, for example – over the military.