Thirteen police officers were injured Thursday during hours of violent clashes in Jerusalem after a routine municipal parking ticket escalated into a confrontation involving suspected ultra-Orthodox Jewish draft evaders, police said.
The unrest began around midday near Bar-Ilan Street when a city parking enforcement officer issued a ticket to a young Haredi man for illegal parking. Police said the inspector was confronted, threatened and assaulted by two young men, prompting him to call for assistance. Officers from the Jerusalem District arrived and arrested one suspect.
Clashes between police and Haredi draft dodgers in Jerusalem
(Video: Gil Yochanan, Liran Tamari)
Within a short time, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox demonstrators gathered at the scene and attempted to free the detainee, police said. Rioters surrounded officers, threw stones and other objects and caused extensive damage to police vehicles, including overturning a patrol car.
Police deployed additional forces, including Border Police units, and used crowd-control measures such as tear gas, stun grenades, batons and water cannons to disperse the crowd. A police helicopter also hovered over the area. Four suspects were arrested.
Police said 13 officers were lightly injured in the clashes, five of whom were taken to a hospital for treatment. Four police vehicles sustained significant damage.
After more than three hours, police initially withdrew from the area. Later, after demonstrators attacked undercover officers and a bus carrying soldiers, police returned and again used stun grenades to restore order.
Police said false reports circulated among extremist Haredi activists that the incident involved arrests of draft evaders for transfer to military police, triggering fears in the neighborhood and contributing to the escalation. Witnesses said that amid the unrest, two suspected draft evaders managed to flee, while another already inside a police vehicle was taken into custody.
Police Commissioner Danny Levi said authorities would hold those responsible accountable, calling the violence a serious breach of public order and condemning the attacks on officers and municipal workers.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also condemned the rioters, calling assaults on police “a red line,” and expressed full backing for officers working to maintain public order.
The Jerusalem Municipality said the incident occurred during routine enforcement activity and stressed that the inspector involved was unharmed. The city condemned the violence and called for the full prosecution of those responsible.
Residents said the clashes erupted while streets were crowded with children, raising fears of further escalation.
First published: 15:39, 12.18.25