Four Suspected of Attacking Police in Israeli Haredi City Released to House Arrest

Four members of the Vizhnitz Hasidic community suspected of attacking two police officers enforcing coronavirus restrictions in the ultra-Othodox Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak last week were released from custody late Tuesday night.

The four suspects were released to five-day house arrest and are barred from going to the street where they allegedly attacked the police officers for 15 days. They are also prohibited from contacting other people involved in the incident.

The four turned themselves in to the police on Sunday. The incident in which the police officers were attacked took place Thursday evening.

Dozens of residents in the predominately Vizhnitz vicinity gathered around the police officers and beat them. When the officers tried to escape, the protesters threw stones at them, opened their car doors, smashed its windshields and punctured its tires. One of the police officers was slightly injured in the incident. Yeshiva officials said the two officers did not identify themselves.

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Following Thursday night's attack, hundreds of police officers participated in an unusual enforcement operation in Bnei Brak later that evening, confronting thousands of the city's residents. At least six people were arrested, some on suspicion that they were involved in the attack on the officers a few hours earlier.

The lawyers representing the four suspects, Tal Gabay and Yehuda Fried, said in a joint statement: "We welcome the police's decision. Despite the harsh accusations made by the police in court during the hearing on the request to extend their detention, our client's part in the incident was minor and we are happy the police adopted our position."