(VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE) There are shouts in the night, harassment of children, pulling of head coverings from the heads of married women, throwing stones and beating of Yeshiva bochurim – these are some of the horrific incidents described in the conversation with Bechadrei Chareidim by chareidi residents who live near Rival Street in Ramat Bet Shemesh Bet, referring to the delinquent youths who roam the streets in order to cause riots and terrorize residents. Then there are the actions of extremist Chareidim, who have taken matters into their own hands in the battle against the youth, referred to as ‘shabavnikim.’ A video documenting a 16-year-old girl who ran for her life in Beit Shemesh was released a week ago and caused a great uproar in the Israeli media. The documentation led to many condemnations, and Mayor Moshe Abutbul explained that the girl’s pursuers belonged to a small and radical chareidi extremists referred to as ‘Sikrikim’ that was embittering lives of residents. However, the report reveals that the opposition to the frenzied youth phenomenon in the streets of Beit Shemesh are rather ostensibly normative chareidi residents, as revealed in their testimony. In a conversation with Bechadrei, the residents accuse Mayor Abutbul of evading responsibility, and instead of removing the phenomenon that is causing panic, he accuses those who confront the boys and girls roaming the streets. Residents say they are aware that when there is one protest or another, the extremists join in. However, the protests are often initiated or approved of by the normative factions. Relating to the Sikirikim, Abutbul said “This is an extremist group whose actions even the police cannot anticipate and cannot control,” Abutbul said in an interview with Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) after the video of the chase after the girl was published. They mayor intensified his position, adding, “I do not need such residents.” In an interview with Ayala Hasson on Radio 103, Abutbul reiterated, “It is the same faction that makes life difficult for us. This is a small, noisy group with whom we have no direct connection. The rabbis are also fighting this group because they are also causing them embarrassment – this is not the way of Torah.” “The children and the mother fled in terror” However, the report adds that other residents are also opposed to the phenomenon of the delinquent youth, who are rampant in the streets. Moshe G., a resident of the neighborhood, spoke with Bechadrei and said that over the past half year, the rampant youth phenomenon was on the back burner, so to speak. “They were walking around the neighborhood, sitting in Rival Square, occasionally harassing the residents, but it did not happen much. The rabbis were in contact with the parents of some of the girls, who took it upon themselves to try and calm the situation.” But in the past two months he says, the situation has worsened. “Children have become afraid to leave home, fearing that they would be harassed, and most of the harassment was at night,” he said. He explains that they began coming at night, arriving with dogs, one without a leash. He adds that people are fearful of the dogs, running for their lives, adding, “A woman who passed was attacked and her hair covering pulled off. My sister-in-law was
