Ultra-Orthodox Riots in Modiin Target Military Police and Terrify Residents
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters rioted in a Modiin residential building overnight to block the arrest of a draft dodger, terrifying residents who compared the chaos to a pogrom.
A broken flowerpot and scattered stones remained in the lobby of a residential building on Yaar Yerushalayim Street in Modiin on Tuesday morning, following a violent disturbance by hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters overnight. The crowd gathered to prevent the arrest of draft dodger Yairi Lieberman, who lives with his family on the 11th floor.
Residents Describe Night of Terror
Residents described the chaotic scenes as a pogrom. Rioters forced their way into the building through the main entrance and the parking garage, swarmed between floors, pounded on apartment doors, and chanted we will die and not enlist. Around midnight, a Military Police force arrived to arrest Lieberman, who activated Tzeva Shachor (Black Color), an ultra-Orthodox activist network aimed at preventing the arrest of yeshiva students.
One neighbor recounted that rioters arrived by buses and massed beneath the building:
We woke up in terror. My daughter thought October 7th was happening in Modiin. Everyone in the building WhatsApp group was terrified. Nobody understood what was happening. We locked our doors and barricaded ourselves inside. The fire alarm started ringing and we feared the building was burning until we realized they had triggered the smoke detectors.
Another neighbor added that she felt the intruders were inside her living room, fearing they were terrorists disguised as ultra-Orthodox Jews, prompting her husband to grab his handgun and rush the children to the shelter.
Police Response and Official Reactions
According to the building residents, emergency calls to the police began at 12:30 AM, but sufficient police forces arrived only around 1:30 AM. Residents reported that rioters struck a female police officer in the head with a flowerpot, causing her to bleed before she was sheltered in an apartment until Magen David Adom paramedics arrived.
Modiin Mayor Haim Bibas condemned the events as disgraceful, stating that the city will not tolerate draft dodgers and lawless behavior. The mother of the draft dodger, who formerly served in the IDF, sent an apology message to her neighbors via the building WhatsApp group.
