Tax authority inspectors conducting routine checks in the Kiryat Vizhnitz neighbourhood of Bnei Brak came under attack from hundreds of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students on Wednesday. The inspectors were pelted with stones and eggs during the incident, forcing police to intervene and extract them from the area. Videos of the disturbance circulated widely on social media, showing the scale of the hostility directed at the officials.
The incident reflects ongoing tensions between Israel’s secular authorities and elements of the ultra-Orthodox community, particularly regarding tax compliance and conscription issues. Bnei Brak, located near Tel Aviv, has a significant ultra-Orthodox population and has been a flashpoint for similar confrontations in recent years.
Simultaneously, Israel’s Supreme Court announced it would convene a panel of nine judges to hear arguments regarding the detention of draft evaders, signalling that significant legal questions about enforcement mechanisms remain unresolved. The court’s involvement underscores the complexity of handling non-compliance within the religious community.
The timing of these developments reflects broader disputes over taxation policies affecting yeshivas and related institutions. A petition challenging tax benefits for certain religious educational institutions was recently removed from the court’s docket, though the reasons remain unclear.

Source: Ynet — Original article in Hebrew.