Son of the cult head blocked a truck, was beaten by police - and hospitalized

One of the sons of Rabbi Shlomo Halbernetz, head of the 'Lev Tahor' cult in Canada - which recently made headlines due to allegations of extremism led by its leaders - was hospitalized last Shabbos at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, suffering from physical injuries and a skull fracture, because of the violence police allegedly exerted against him.


On Shabbos afternoon, about 50 protesters came to the corner of Devora Haneviah Street in the capital, where - as every week – they protested against the desecration of Shabbos in the city. At about 16:30 a garbage truck passed by that came to clear the garbage can which is situated nearby. The wrath of the protesters skyrocketed.

Halbernetz's son, who was among the group of protesters, lay on the road behind the truck to block it and stop the continued activity on Shabbos. "The police officers who were already at the scene," says Akiva Weingarten who was in the area, "pulled him harshly off the road and brought him back to the sidewalk, where all the demonstrators were standing ".


But Halbernetz insisted and got back on the road, while disturbing the truck from driving. "After four times, when the truck was already beginning to drive, a group of 3-4 policemen emerged, and hit him with cruel blows, kicks and punches all over his body.

"When he was already put in the police car, he was injured all over his body, his shtreimel was destroyed, his cheek was full of blood, I also noticed one of the officers holding pepper or tear spray, and so far it is not clear whether he used it against him."


Halbernetz was taken in for questioning at the police station. Even there, according to his associates, he suffered severe violence which at the end brought to his hospitalization. One of his friends, who is staying close to his bed in the hospital and refused to give his name, told B'Chadrei Charedim that minutes before entering the interrogation he asked the police to go to the bathroom.

"He was bound in his hands and feet," says his friend. "Due to the pain in his body he was not able to move right or left. They accompanied him to the stairs where they pushed him, and as a result of the pushing he rolled down the stairs and injured his head badly."


The police station called an ambulance of Magen David Adom, and from there he was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in the city. When he got to the hospital, he underwent a series of tests and was admitted to the ER, when he bruised in body and had a fractured skull.

"His overall purpose was to protest with devotion against the desecration of Shabbos," says his friend. "Now he is in the hospital when he himself does not understand what all the fuss is about with which he has to deal, while the police disclaim from the case."


Jerusalem police response to B'Chadrei Charedim: "The detainee was wild and lay down on the road, the police used reasonable forces to arrest him. He did not come beaten to the police station, he was asked if he needed medical treatment and objected. While leaving the investigation he stumbled and slid down the stairs, and therefore an ambulance was called, which took him to the hospital."

Police also noted that "he can turn to the PIU".


Etty Dvir, a spokeswoman for the Hadassah medical center, confirmed to B'Chadrei Charedim that the victim was hospitalized in stable condition.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!