Violent Riots Break Out at Benjamin Police Station After Yeshiva Student Handed to Military Police

Dozens of Haredi protesters clashed violently with police overnight after a yeshiva student was detained and transferred to military authorities, with the two sides offering sharply conflicting accounts of what triggered the confrontation.

Three yeshiva students were handed over to military police overnight Tuesday-Wednesday, as part of a new policy introduced by Police Commissioner Danny Levy to transfer all draft evaders encountered by civilian police directly to military authorities.

Police Version: Reckless Driving Led to the Arrest

According to the police account, officers from the Judea and Samaria (Shin-Yud) district pulled over a driver who was "driving recklessly on Route 60, zigzagging between lanes and posing a genuine danger to himself and other road users." A subsequent check revealed the suspect was a military draft absentee. He was transferred to IDF authorities, and a separate investigation was opened against him for dangerous driving.

The Riot That Followed

Shortly after, according to police, dozens of protesters descended on the Benjamin police station and launched what officers described as a violent disturbance. The crowd overturned a police trailer, burned cardboard, bent fences, and damaged an emergency exit door at the station.

Border Police fighters and special YASAM unit officers moved in to disperse the crowd by force. A second draft absentee was arrested during the unrest for disturbing the order and also transferred to military police. The investigation into the damage caused to the station is ongoing.

Police stated they "take traffic offenses that endanger road users very seriously, condemn disturbances and damage to symbols of authority, and will continue to enforce the law in the interest of public safety."

Goldknopf: "A Dangerous Escalation"

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yitzchak Goldknopf responded sharply, calling the overnight arrests "a dangerous escalation in the relentless persecution of Torah learners, which sadly recalls dark periods in Jewish history."

Goldknopf argued that "in a sensitive and tense period, the police, entrusted with public order, are expected to act with responsibility and restraint, and avoid populist steps that create unnecessary confrontations. This is not a population that poses a danger to public safety. The police would do better to direct their determination toward the surging crime wave of recent months."

He concluded with a direct appeal: "I call on the Prime Minister to intervene immediately and order an immediate halt to these arrests."