Two haredim charged with assaulting police during mob attack on haredi soldier

Braun and Krischavski, who threw stones, metal bars, water buckets on police, could face at least 3 years in jail.

By JTA
Haredi and IDF soldier Tal law Jerusalem 390 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem / The Jerusalem Post)
Haredi and IDF soldier Tal law Jerusalem 390
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem / The Jerusalem Post)
Two haredi men who assaulted police officers at the scene of a mob attack on a haredi soldier in Jerusalem were indicted on Thursday.
The two men, Joseph Braun and Jacob Krischavski, were charged with attacking several police officers on Tuesday during a riot that erupted in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim. If convicted, the defendants could face at least three years in prison.
The attack came two days after the cabinet approved a proposal to draft haredi men into the IDF. A small number of haredi leaders have allowed and in some cases encouraged enlistment, but the majority have resisted the draft. The proposed law has sparked numerous protests.
On Tuesday, officers were called to Mea Shearim after dozens of haredi men intimidated a haredi soldier. The men gathered outside the office of the uncle of the soldier, who came to visit his uncle during a short leave from the army, according to the indictment filed on Thursday by the Jerusalem prosecutor’s office with the city’s Magistrate’s Court.
The soldier, who does not live in Jerusalem, was wearing a uniform and a black kipa. Several dozen men gathered around him and hurled garbage as he was walking to the office. He entered the office, changed to civilian clothes and called police as the crowd chanted insults outside.
The two defendants and several other individuals hurled stones, metal bars and water buckets at the police. Braun and Krischavski, both in their early 20s, were charged with aggravated assault of a police officer, obstructing a police officer and rioting.