In a dramatic move on Monday, Beitar Illit Mayor Meir Rubinstein, who also serves as the chairman of the Forum of Chareidi Authorities, sent a sharply worded letter to Police Commissioner Danny Levy, in which he announced the forum’s intention to cease all municipal cooperation with the Israel Police, including the revocation of all existing agreements.

“We turn to you, with great sorrow and burning pain, regarding the steps we are now taking, in order to clarify the situation you have placed us in with the continued arrest of Lomdei Torah,” the letter, which was signed by all members of the forum, states.

“The current situation, in which the police became the enemy of the Chareidi sector, hunting down bnei yeshivos in city streets and on highways, unfortunately, does not allow us the continuation of municipal cooperation with the police.”

“In accordance, we are announcing the cessation of cooperation between the authorities and the Israel Police, including the revocation of all existing agreements, which include allocations of municipal buildings for police stations, the cancellation of community policing, and the freezing of all existing cooperative projects, including the City Without Violence project, welfare, and other important projects. And above all, an announcement by the Rabbanim of an absolute prohibition on contact between the police and the leaders of the sector.”

“It is important to note that the result of the behavior of the police will also lead to people not fulfilling the obligation to report due to the lack of public trust, which will literally lead to a situation of sakanos nafashos.”

“We are aware of the severe consequences of such a decision, but if the police decide to cooperate with the irresponsible behavior of the attorney general, a disturbed official who decided to inflame civil tensions and shatter the status quo and dozens of years of cooperation and construction of responsible joint management of police and community, then the responsibility is on your shoulders.”

“Your decision to arrest bnei yeshivos severs the branch on which basic and minimal cooperation with the entire sector rests. In this way, you are succeeding in leading the entire Chareidi public, more than one million souls, onto the path of extremism.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)