24 Complaints Filed Over Police Violence at Bnei Brak Protest

Following Thursday's Peleg Yerushalmi demonstration in Bnei Brak, protesters have filed 24 focused complaints with the Police Investigations Unit (Machash) alleging police brutality. Testimonies began Wednesday morning at Machash offices in Tel Aviv, with legal representation provided by the Fund for the Battle Against the Draft Decree.

According to those involved, Machash responded with unusual speed: the day after the first complaint was filed, representatives from the unit contacted complainants and summoned them to give testimony immediately. The complaints detail severe physical assaults, what protesters describe as brutal violence by officers, and stun grenades thrown directly at demonstrators.

The legal effort is being coordinated by the Fund for the Battle Against the Draft Decree, which has been supporting the campaign against the arrest of yeshiva bochurim. The fund stated this is only the opening move: "We will take every step necessary to pursue full legal accountability for officers who acted violently. We hope that Machash's swift response will continue through to bringing those responsible to justice."

Parallel to the legal proceedings, the events in Bnei Brak have triggered a storm at the highest levels of government and police. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has filed a petition with the High Court against the police commissioner. In his petition, Ben Gvir alleges that the commissioner instructed field commanders to use deliberate and severe violence against the chareidi demonstrators.

Stun grenades, batons and riot gear | The stormy demonstration in Jerusalem over the groom's arrest (Photo: Chaim Goldberg, Flash90)

The minister included in his petition a grave quote attributed to the commissioner, claiming he said in closed meetings that he "wants to see blood." These allegations have intensified public and political tension surrounding police conduct at chareidi demonstrations.

Association for Civil Rights: "Stop the use that violates protocols"

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has also sent an urgent letter to the police commissioner, the police legal adviser and the Police Investigations Unit, following the throwing of stun grenades into crowded groups of protesters. The association's letter emphasized that police protocols prohibit throwing stun grenades closer than five meters from demonstrators, require avoiding their use as much as possible in the presence of children and pregnant women, and mandate taking precautionary measures when deploying them.

The association is demanding an investigation into the incidents, an end to use that violates protocols, and clarification of safety instructions to all ranks in the police. Attorney Eden Gilad, coordinator of freedom of protest at the Association for Civil Rights, stated: "The right to demonstrate is a fundamental right in a democracy, and the police must respect it."

Storm in the chareidi street: "Lost their humanity"

Reactions in the chareidi community and newspapers have amplified the protest. Yated Ne'eman published a particularly sharp column by editor Yisrael Friedman, who chose to attack police conduct in the field with unusual severity. "One cannot help but be filled with rage at the black-uniformed officers who lost their humanity and rioted without proportion and without mercy, only because those standing before them are chareidim," Friedman wrote.

The stormy demonstration took place following the arrest of a chareidi groom in the middle of his sheva brachos, an incident that sparked widespread outrage in the chareidi public. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Yerushalayim and Bnei Brak, facing police forces that deployed a range of measures to disperse them, from stun grenades thrown between legs to batons and riot gear.

Police claimed that "the rioters behaved violently, threw objects and stones at officers and refused to clear traffic routes, disrupting normal life in the area." However, documentation released from the demonstrations and the complaints filed point to severe violence by police forces toward the protesters.