Residents of Meah Shearim and nearby neighborhoods fell victim recently to police harassment, which only ceased after a petition was presented to Israel’s High Court by Betzedek, an Israeli nonprofit organization directed by Rabbi Yosef Rieder.

In response to several demonstrations, the city police seemed to decide that a collective action against all area residents would be a good strategy.

But collective punishment is not recognized as a legitimate law enforcement principle.  And accusations that police sought to force residents of the community to act against other residents raised the specter of a tactical method that has been rejected by the High Court – which ruled that a soldier in uniform must disobey a command to engage in such tactics.

Betzedek received numerous complaints from residents injured by the police violence, including the indiscriminate use of high-pressure water trucks that directed torrents of dyed water against citizens.  The intended use of such trucks is to disperse illegal demonstrations; in this case, however, their use was simply to wreak havoc in the haredi community.

Windows were shattered, possessions were ruined and actual injuries were sustained by men, women and children – some of the latter while they had been sleeping.  Water also caused short circuits in apartment electrical systems, creating blackouts and causing harm to refrigerators and their contents and other machinery.

Even non-haredi journalists reporting from the scene took note of the indiscriminate destruction and the fact that those who suffered injury and damage had not committed any crime.

Rabbi Mordechai Green, General Manager of Betzedek, turned to the district police commanding officer, to the police commissioner and to the relevant government Minister and demanded that the collective punishment stop.

In their absence of any reply, Betzedek petitioned the Supreme Court, demanding that the use of the water trucks end.  In its petition, Betzedek reminded the Court that smoke grenades have been legally classified as ammunition, since they can cause physical harm.  High-pressure water streams, too, Betzedek argued, for the same reason, should be considered ammunition and, as such, shunned in populated areas.

The petition, further, demonstrated that the water trucks had been utilized to punish, and Israel’s penal code does not include any such punitive measure.  That the punishment was meted out in a collective manner and against citizens who had committed no crimes only made it all the more outrageous.

The petition was transmitted to Judge Elyakim Rubinstein, who ruled that the police must answer the petition within 30 days. However Betzedek requested a temporary injunction to halt the unruly behavior immediately.  But Judge Rubinstein would only amend his order to require the police to respond by July 1.

After the petition was submitted to the Supreme Court, however, the police immediately toned down their behavior and abstained from bringing the water trucks back into into haredi neighborhoods, to the great relief of residents.

Betzedek is awaiting the police response to the Judge’s ruling, and will continue to make the case that the police should not have carte blanche to wield water trucks at whim.  Betzedek is also examining the possibility of suing the police and the individual police officers who activated the water trucks against innocent civilians for damages.