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Most Detainees Freed After Bnei Brak Mob Attack on Female Soldiers as Police Hunt Arson Suspects

The clashes have sharpened a long-running fight over Haredi conscription and police conduct.

Overview

  • Police arrested roughly 27–28 people over the Feb. 15 unrest; most were released, with a small number—including minors—facing court restrictions such as brief house arrest.
  • Investigators are seeking those who overturned a police vehicle and set a police motorcycle ablaze, with officials describing the disorder as severe and ongoing inquiries under way.
  • Authorities clarified the two female soldiers were on an Education and Youth Corps welfare visit, not delivering draft notices, after a mistaken belief helped draw a hostile crowd.
  • National leaders and senior rabbis condemned the violence, with figures including Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef calling for offenders to face the law.
  • Defense lawyers and municipal officials allege heavy-handed tactics and ‘show arrests,’ prompting releases, legal challenges, and a Knesset motion for scrutiny, as further disturbances were reported in Jerusalem and again in Bnei Brak the next night.