|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A 14-year-old boy, Yosef Eisenthal, was killed on Tuesday evening after a bus struck ultra-Orthodox protesters during a mass demonstration against Israel’s haredi draft law in Jerusalem. Three additional protesters were injured in the incident.
The fatal collision occurred along Bar-Ilan Road, where thousands of haredi demonstrators had gathered to protest compulsory military service. The demonstration was one of several held across Israel in recent days opposing the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men into the Israel Defense Forces.
United Hatzalah volunteer Dr. Aryeh Yaffe described the chaotic scene as emergency teams rushed to assist the injured. He said responders arrived at a “severe collision involving a bus and several pedestrians.”
“A male pedestrian was trapped unconscious under the vehicle,” Yaffe said. “Fire and Rescue personnel extracted the patient, who was unfortunately found with no signs of life and pronounced deceased at the scene.”
Yaffe added that three other pedestrians sustained minor traumatic injuries. All were treated at the scene before being transported to hospital in stable condition.
Hadassah-University Medical Center in Ein Kerem confirmed it received a 14-year-old injured in the incident. Magen David Adom said two additional injured protesters were taken to Hadassah-University Medical Center on Mount Scopus.
Police arrested the bus driver at the scene. According to Maariv, the driver told investigators that protesters climbed onto the bus, prompting him to attempt to escape the area.
The incident sparked strong reactions from Israel’s political leadership. Shas, the ultra-Orthodox political party, said it was “deeply shaken” by the deadly ramming and demanded a “thorough and uncompromising” police investigation.
“Haredi blood is not cheap,” the party said in a statement.
United Torah Judaism MK Yitzhak Goldknopf expressed condolences to the family of the teenager who was killed and to those injured. He echoed calls for law enforcement to exhaust “the full severity of the law” against the driver.
“It is impossible to move on as if nothing happened when there has been a loss of control and harm to human life,” Goldknopf said.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett described the incident as a moment of national failure. “Our country cannot look like this,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar said “a dangerous red line was crossed tonight,” adding that no ideological dispute could justify the death of a Jewish youth.
MK Yair Golan of the Democrats party called the incident a “horror” and sent condolences to the bereaved family.
Israel Police said officers were deployed in large numbers to maintain public order but that parts of the protest quickly turned violent. According to police, some demonstrators blocked traffic, damaged buses, burned trash bins, and hurled objects at officers.
Police also reported attacks on journalists covering the protest, including reporters from Israeli public broadcaster KAN News, who were forced to flee and seek shelter in a nearby store before being escorted to safety by Border Police.
“As a result of these events, police ordered the rioters to disperse and began operations to restore public order using force,” the police said, adding that efforts were ongoing late into the night.
The protest was reportedly organized by senior haredi leaders, including Rabbi Moshe Tzedaka of the Porat Yosef Yeshiva. Demonstrators carried signs reading, “Agreeing to a draft law is agreeing to the destruction of Judaism.”
Other signs accused the Israeli government of discrimination against Sephardic Jews and labeled the state an “apartheid state.”
Tuesday’s events followed protests earlier in the week outside IDF recruitment offices in Jerusalem and Kiryat Ono. Clashes erupted as demonstrators attempted to block access to military facilities, underscoring the growing tensions surrounding haredi enlistment into the IDF.
As Israel grapples with the fallout from the deadly incident, authorities face mounting pressure to restore calm while addressing one of the country’s most divisive social and political issues.
This article was created using automation technology and was thoroughly edited and fact-checked by one of our editorial staff members
