Hundreds of Charedi protesters prevented Israeli military police from arresting a yeshiva student suspected of draft dodging by barricading his apartment.
Demonstrators gathered at the block of flats in Modi’in, central Israel, on Monday night after the authorities arrived to take the suspect into custody.
The IDF said the police had been carrying out “ongoing enforcement activities” against deserters and draft dodgers when a “large number of rioters” turned up to prevent them from entering.
According to the military, the protesters obstructed the arrest with “resistance and significant disruption”.
“The IDF strongly condemns any attempt to interfere with its soldiers’ activities or harm them while they are lawfully carrying out their duties,” the IDF said.
Hundreds of protesters are reported to have turned up, and after the military police were forced to withdraw, they celebrated.
Footage shows the suspect celebrating on the roof of a car surrounded by supporters.
The “Black Color” hotline, run by the Charedi’s Jerusalem faction, said afterwards that police had left the yeshiva student’s home “following the support of the masses”.
The incident came after a series of demonstrations.
On September 2, protesters held a demonstration outside the home of a senior police official in Jerusalem after six suspected draft dodgers were arrested at Ben Gurion airport.
And on August 24, protesters blocked roads near Bnei Brak following the arrest of a yeshiva student accused of not enlisting for military service.
There, protesters chanted: “We will die and not enlist.”
In Israel, there are roughly 80,000 Charedi men who are eligible for enlistment but have not done so, and the Attorney General’s Office has called for the state to be tougher on policing it.
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