A leading Satmar rabbi has instructed his followers to stop taking part in protests against military conscription, after two ultra-Orthodox teenagers were killed this month when they were struck by buses during demonstrations.
Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, one of the two spiritual leaders of the Satmar Hasidic movement, told followers that participation in protests and road blockages posed a serious danger. Speaking over the weekend to community members, he said students from Satmar institutions in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and Beit Shemesh must not join such demonstrations.
“It is forbidden for any young man to take part in protests or block roads. It is dangerous,” Teitelbaum said, according to remarks circulated within the community. He added that lives were being put at risk, using a phrase that drew wide attention: “There are Arab killers and there are Zionist killers. This must be heard throughout the country.”
The comments followed two fatal incidents involving teenage demonstrators. Last week, 16-year-old yeshiva student Naftali Zvi Kramer, a Satmar follower, was killed near Kiryat Gat when a bus struck him as he was returning from a protest in Jerusalem against autopsies performed on infants who died at a day care center. Earlier this month, 14-year-old Yosef Eisental was killed after being hit by a bus during a demonstration in Jerusalem against the conscription of ultra-Orthodox men.
Teitelbaum delivered his remarks while spending the Sabbath with followers at a resort complex in California. His directive marked a sharp warning to members of his community amid rising tensions around ultra-Orthodox protests, which often include attempts to block traffic.
Meanwhile, a magistrate’s court in Ashkelon ordered the release to house arrest of the bus driver suspected of fatally striking Kramer at the Aluma junction near Kiryat Gat. During the court hearing, a police representative said the incident occurred on a roadway where protesters were attempting to stop vehicles.
“The suspect turned left from the Komemiyut interchange, saw the people, and had enough time to stop the bus but did not do so,” the police representative told the court, adding that video footage pointed to dangerous conduct.
The driver told investigators he did not see the teenager. His attorney questioned police about whether officers were present at the scene and whether they were responsible for clearing protesters from the road. Police said officers were there to monitor the protest, not to remove demonstrators.
Asked about the driver’s alleged danger to the public, the police representative said, “When approaching a crowd of people, you must brake, not accelerate. That is the proper course.”
The deaths have intensified scrutiny of protest tactics and police oversight, while prompting rare public intervention from senior ultra-Orthodox leadership urging restraint.