Hundreds of protesters gathered overnight in Yerushalayim in an attempt to prevent the arrest of a yeshiva bochur by military police, leading to violent confrontations and the deployment of Border Police forces.

The incident began overnight, when military police arrested Yosef Levy, a talmid of Yeshiva Pe’er Yosef, in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Yerushalayim, for allegedly not identifying himself to military police officers. He was taken to a police station for further questioning.

Following the arrest, a large protest erupted at the scene. Demonstrators claimed that police used heavy force to disperse the crowd, including stun grenades.

At the same time, dozens of additional protesters gathered at Kikar HaShabbos in Yerushalayim to protest the arrest. During efforts to disperse the demonstration, Border Police officers were filmed striking protesters with batons.

The developments come after Police Commissioner Danny Levy recently instructed police officers to detain any draft deserter encountered and transfer him to military police custody for further handling.

Until now, Israeli police had generally refrained from arresting draft deserters directly. Critics of the new directive have described it as a major policy shift driven by pressure from the attorney general, whom many in the Olam HaTorah accuse of aggressively targeting bnei yeshivos.

Just before Shavuos, an avreich from Ofakim was stopped on a highway and transferred to military police custody, marking one of the first known implementations of the commissioner’s new policy.

{Matzav.com}