Israeli police have confirmed that they have released the 26 suspects arrested in Bneir Brak on Monday after Charedi men in the city rioted against military conscription.
The mob has been roundly condemned by politicians after they attacked a pair of female IDF soldiers and chased them through the streets.
The soldiers had been conducting a routine visit to the home of a member of their unit and ventured into the area unarmed and dressed in long skirts to avoid provoking any tensions, given the fraught relations between the IDF and the Charedi community at present.
However, a false report emerged that they were members of the military police enforcing conscription orders against draft dodgers.
They were forced to take cover behind overturned rubbish bins as a large crowd of strictly-Orthodox men pursued them.
Ultimately, the servicewomen had to be rescued by police, with officers shielding them from the mob until they could be ushered into a police car.
Police later confirmed that 26 people had been arrested after riot squad officers used stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
However, they have since stated that all 26 have been released. The majority have been freed without charge, though seven – three adults and four minors – were retained on house arrest after hearings at the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court and Bat Yam Juvenile Court.
Shlomo Hadad, a lawyer representing the group of seven, called the arrests a “show for the media” and claimed that “there was no evidence for anything”.
The riots were condemned by the IDF’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, who said: “A reality in which IDF soldiers, men and women, cannot move freely within the State of Israel is an intolerable reality that must be addressed.
"We will not accept harm to our soldiers, and I expect that the law will be fully enforced against those who harmed you."
They also prompted outrage from the opposition parties, with Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman calling those involved “terrorists” and accusing senior rabbis of inciting violence.
Even the Charedi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ), on whose support the coalition government relies, condemned the violence, despite their vocal opposition to conscription of yeshiva students into the IDF.
Blaming the riots on a "handful of extremists," Shas leader Aryeh Deri said: "These actions are completely contrary to the ways of the Torah, harm the entire ultra-Orthodox public, cause a desecration of God's name and inflict severe damage to the just struggle for the Torah world."
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