Two drivers have been arrested after a car rammed into a group of protesters in Bnei Brak, Israel, on Monday. A 16-year-old has been moderately injured, according to police, after one of the cars stuck in traffic due to the demonstration drove at a high speed through the crowd. A 24-year-old local resident was arrested shortly after as officers at the scene of the protest followed the driver.
After the first man was detained, the authorities stopped a motorcyclist from also driving into the crowd, who has now been detained. The 37-year-old is a resident of Herzliya. Both drivers have been transferred for questioning at a nearby police station, according to The Times of Israel. Footage of the incident on social media shows the first vehicle passing at a high speed through the crowd, knocking over several protesters.
Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s medical emergency service, rushed to the scene and tended to the 16-year-old who was taken to a local medical centre in Petah Tikva.
Ronald Keikov and Naftali Levintal of the MDA, who were at the scene, told Israel National News: "We were near the junction when civilians called us and said that a boy was hit by a car. When we arrived, we saw a boy of about 16, who was conscious and suffering from injuries to his head and limbs. We provided medical care, and we evacuated him in an MDA ambulance to the hospital in stable condition."
Over 100 protesters blocked Route 4 near the entrance to Bnei Brak in a demonstration against the conscription of ultra-Orthodox into Israel's military.
The protest was reportedly organised by the Jerusalem Faction, which is against the draft.
Lawmakers in Israel are currently considering the end to the exemption granted to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in full-time religious study, which has been in place since the State of Israel was declared.
However, Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled the exemption illegal almost 20 years ago, and temporary arrangements to continue it were ended by the court last year. In turn, the government began drafting.
Tensions are now at a boiling point within the community, as a new draft bill is being debated to force ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF, alongside other Israeli Jews.
