Riots in Modi'in: Hundreds of protesters disrupt the arrest of Yeshiva student considered a draft dodger

Officers in Modi'in dealt with a public disturbance in the city overnight, which stemmed from Israeli Military Police attempting to arrest someone who they considered a deserter. According to the police spokesperson, numerous police forces operated at the scene to extract the soldiers and restore public order.

After military police arrived to carry out a planned arrest of a deserter, hundreds of Ultra-Orthodox protesters rushed to the scene with the intention of disrupting the arrest. They blocked the officers, who were forced to call for the civilian police to rescue them.

According to eyewitness accounts, the civilian police officers advised the military police to release the deserter in order to calm the situation. The deserter, who was already handcuffed, was eventually released.

Fierce clashes broke out at the building’s entrance. Dozens of protesters holed up on the 11th floor of the building where the deserter lives, alongside military police personnel and Israel Police officers, in an attempt to make the forces give up and leave. Eventually, the military police left the home.

Yaakov CHaim Miller, chairman of the “Black Color” party, said in a statement outside the home of the released yeshiva student, “I haven’t seen a single ultra-Orthodox lawmaker or chief of staff here. And this is after they apologized to the public.”

Meanwhile, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett took to X to condemn the protest, writing, "The incident tonight in Modiin, where soldiers and police are doing their jobs, only to fall into an ambush by hundreds of extremist rioters who engage them in 'negotiations' for their safe exit from the area—like a gang of criminals—is an event we must not accept." Bennett also blamed the current governing coalition, saying, "This is the Netanyahu-Deri-Smotrich legacy, and that's exactly what the elections are about."

Additionally, Yisrael Beiteinu party head, Avigdor Liberman was critical of the protest writing on X, "Once again, Netanyahu's partners are rioting, attacking soldiers and police who came to arrest a deserter in Modiin, and smuggling him away under the cover of a mob screaming "Nazis" at them and "release the hostage." It's simply intolerable that IDF soldiers are forced to flee under heavy police protection as if they were in Jenin and not in Modiin."

Moti Leitner, chairman of the “Haredi Public” party, responded to the unrest, “The violent thugs of the Jerusalem Faction are terrorizing the State of Israel. These savages belong behind bars. Regardless of the fact that arrests do not help efforts to draft the ultra-Orthodox, Deri, Asher and Goldknopf must condemn the violent rioting against IDF soldiers and the rampant lawlessness in the streets.”

Leitner added: “We, the ultra-Orthodox, are the first to suffer from this deranged, violent gang, followed by the entire State of Israel. It’s time to put an end to this. It’s time for responsible leadership.”