Yoel "Yoelish" Kraus, the kambatz, or "operations director" for the Eda Haharedit organization, was released to house arrest on Monday after being arrested the previous evening for assaulting a haredi woman who refused to move to the other side of the street in the capital's Mea She'arim neighborhood, police said.
Yoel Kraus (right) leaves the police central holding cells inside the Russian Compound on Monday.
Photo: Abe Selig
Kraus, a high-profile member of the fiercely anti-Zionist organization, was ordered to serve 30 days of house arrest outside of Jerusalem.
On Sunday, Jerusalem Police announced that Kraus had been arrested after allegedly spraying the woman with a mace-like substance and attacking her.
Some streets in the capital's ultra-Orthodox enclave are unofficially segregated between men and women. Kraus allegedly spotted the woman walking on one of the neighborhood's streets and told her to cross to the other side.
When she refused, Kraus attacked her, police said. The woman, who did not require medical attention, called the police, who on Monday said that Kraus had initially admitted his role in the incident.
The Eda Haharedit, however, has asserted Kraus's innocence, saying that "Rabbi Kraus never laid a hand on anyone."
Kraus is known to police most recently for his organizational role in the haredi riots that rocked the capital over the summer after the municipality decided to open a public parking lot near the Jaffa Gate on Shabbat.
Scores of police and rioters were injured during the months of unrest, which saw weekly confrontations between the two sides in front of the Karta parking lot, opposite the Old City.
While those disturbances have died down, Kraus's arrest, and subsequent claims by the Eda Haharedit of his innocence, may threaten the delicate relationship that exists between the capital's police and its haredi population.
Kraus is scheduled to appear in court for a hearing after his house arrest is completed.
