Ashdod Police Beat Gur Yeshiva Student in Mistaken-Identity Arrest

Two plainclothes police detectives searching Sunday morning in Ashdod's neighborhood 7 for a child-support delinquent mistakenly identified a married Gur Hasidic yeshiva student on Sderot Yerushalayim near Baal HaNes Street, chased him after he fled the sudden demand, handcuffed his hands and feet, and beat him brutally, breaking his glasses, tearing his clothing and leaving him bleeding. Only after the yeshiva student was restrained did the officers check his identification, discover the error, remove the handcuffs and leave the scene without providing medical care or offering an apology. The Israel Police initially attributed the incident to the Prison Service before acknowledging its own officers were responsible and transferring the case for internal review. United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yitzhak Goldknopf condemned the assault, saying the brutality reflected a public climate that had permitted spilling the blood of the Torah-observant community and demanded that the officers face consequences.