The "Hardakim" Campaign Continues

Ultra-Orthodox Extremists Assaulting IDF Soldiers

In ultra-Orthodox cities and neighborhoods, IDF soldiers get assaulted with jeers and thrown objects by an extremist ultra-Orthodox minority. They are often made unwelcome in synagogues when they come to pray, and often made unwelcome when they visit to soak in the holy atmosphere of the High Holy Days.

08/10/2014 15:54

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Based on reports (1, 2) by Kikar HaShabbat (in Hebrew):

Haredi sector anti-Hardakim campaign:
'Waste Collector's Uniform'

A brawl broke out on Sunday night at the intersection of Rabbi Shach and Rabbi Kotler streets in the city of Bnei Brak, near the Itzkowitz synagogue, when a group of Home Front Command soldiers who had arrived on a guided tour in the city of Bnei Brak were attacked with jeers by a handful of yeshiva students who called them "Hardakim" and threw various objects at them.

In response, some (secular, according to one report, while Haredi onlookers did not intervene) passersby present at the scene beat back the boys and a fight ensued. After an exchange of blows, the group calmed down, and the officers and soldiers continued on their tour as planned.

"It was embarrassing to see it," described an eye witness to 'Kikar HaShabbat', "It caused a desecration of God. It's such a shame that at a time such as this (the High Holy Day season) when hundreds of non-religious people are coming every evening to Bnei Brak to absorb the atmosphere of the festival and holiness, that instead of sanctifying Heaven and bringing them closer (to Jewish tradition) some people choose instead to generate strife and controversy."

They cursed him mercilessly for many minutes. He only wanted to pray, and they wouldn’t even let him finish one verse. They shamed him so much that he simply left the place.

A similar account was given the next day, regarding a religious soldier in uniform who came to pray at a synagogue in Mea Shearim (a major Haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem) near the Mir Yeshivah. When noticed by some of the “extreme Haredi” they started shouting at him to leave the synagogue, yelling, “you are a criminal,” “you are a rodef according to the Torah,” etc. until he was forced to leave. Other worshippers present protested the assault on the soldier, the article reported.

An eyewitness said: “They cursed him mercilessly for many minutes. He only wanted to pray, and they wouldn’t even let him finish one verse. They shamed him so much that he simply left the place.”

Hiddush has long since directed attention to this abominable behavior, which is vicious, growing and illegal. We feel that the law enforcement authorities are treating it too lightly, but at the same time, we find some partial consolation reading that during some of these incidents onlookers in the area do protest such conduct, demonstrating that this behavior does not represent the entire ultra-Orthodox community. In fact, as ultra-Orthodox eyewitness Shaul Kreuzer described in an interview with http://www.kooker.co.il/ (in Hebrew) ultra-Orthodox bystanders to the event who, while they did not intervene, seemed satisfied with the fact that the extremists were physically countered by some secular Jews in the area.

Hiddush expects more ultra-Orthodox religious and community leaders to publicly speak out against and dissociate themselves from such disrespect towards Israel and the Israel Defense Force.

However, Hiddush is concerned at the lack police presence at such fight scenes in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak and Jerusalem nighborhoods, and maintains that the reluctance of the police to enter into ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and cities sends a very dangerous message. It encourages the extremists’ conduct and mindset that sees Haredi areas of Israel as a “state within the State” that may ignore the rule of Israeli civil law and disrupt public order. Further, while the violent and vocal extremists may represent a minority of the ultra-Orthodox population, Hiddush expects more ultra-Orthodox religious and community leaders to publicly speak out against and dissociate themselves from such disrespect towards Israel and the Israel Defense Force and strongly condemn the intimidation of the Haredi soldiers.

The recent reported incidents indicate that the aggressive campaign to try and prevent the enlistment of Haredi men is not over, even as the frequency of the reports has lessened in recent months. Hiddush expects that internal disputes within the Haredi community regarding how it should respond to military and national service enlistment, resulting with some demonstrative acts of protest, as well as the acceleration of enforcement of the new draft law will result with new waves of resistance, which makes the importance of strict and swift response by Israeli law enforcement agencies even more critical.