JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A new policy announced on Monday by Police Commissioner Danny Levy requires police officers to detain charedi draft evaders until military police arrive and arrest them. The controversial initiative has led many yeshiva students to fear contacting the police even when they themselves are victims of crimes.

A story published on Tuesday morning in the charedi press illustrates the depth of fear in the community over police interventions to arrest yeshiva students. At a gas station near Jerusalem, a young charedi man was violently attacked, but despite his injuries and the damage to his car, he begged bystanders not to call the police.

According to the report by “Radar,” the incident began when the young man got out of his car and entered the convenience store at the gas station. At some point, a secular man approached him, physically assaulted him, kicked him, and spat in his face. Several secular bystanders who witnessed the attack were shocked and tried to protect him and stop the attacker.

According to eyewitnesses, the attacker fled the scene in his car, but while escaping he also struck the charedi man’s vehicle, causing additional damage. While the young man stood there injured and frightened, the people around him wanted to call the police, but he adamantly refused. Witnesses said the young man explained that he feared being arrested because of the new directives regarding yeshiva students classified as draft evaders.

The disturbing incident is seen as a direct result of the new directives for police. For thousands in the charedi community, this is no longer viewed merely as a legal or political dispute, but as a genuine sense of fear accompanying every trip outside their home, concerned that any encounter with a police officer, even when they themselves are the victim, could end in arrest.