[VIDEO & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Several hundred Eida rabbonim and supporters took part in a rally outside the Eida’s Zupnik headquarters in Yerushalayim late Sunday afternoon, located a few hundred meters from Kikar Shabbos in Yerushalayim.

Participants in the protest decried the arrests and continued detention of six suspects allegedly involved in tax evasion and other white collar crimes linked to the Eida’s Vaad Artzi tzedaka, Israel Police officials report. Among those in custody in Amram Shapira, the personal assistant of Gavaad HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Tuvia Weiss Shlita along with other senior Eida officials.

Protestors placed garbage receptacles in the roadway in an effort to block the street and some confronted law enforcement troops, defying their instructions to vacate the street. Three people were arrested following a number of brief scuffles. The event was non-violent, at least compared to the stormy Eida protests seen in the area in the past during protests against chilul Shabbos, in support of mehadrin buses or other matters of importance to the tzibur.

As was reported earlier, Rav Weiss instructed participants in the day’s events to remain orderly, explaining this was a day of tefilla following the arrests, not a day of violence.

The situation in Ramat Beit Shemesh Beit, another Eida community, was a bit more violent as this community is known to be more extreme. Protestors poured oil on the street to close it to vehicular traffic. A number of arrests were made there as well.

The general consensus among Eida rabbonim is that the arrest of the gabbai and other notables is nothing less than a personal attack by police on the Gavaad, signaling the response will be commensurate with such an attack.

As the sun sets over the capital, the community waits for an update from the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court where the suspects will be brought today for a remand hearing to determine if they will be released on bail or kept behind bars. Undoubtedly the outcome of the remand hearing will dictate events in Meah Shearim and the Kikar Shabbos area tonight and in coming days.

CREDITS: Chaim Schvarcz – Kuvien Images & Bambi Images.

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(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)