Beit Shemesh Mayor Evacuated After Chareidi Hooligans Smash Her Car

 

 Beit Shemesh Mayor Aliza Bloch was evacuated from a building in the Ramat Beit Shemesh B neighborhood on Tuesday night, where she had arrived to inaugurate a new school of the Vizhnitz Hasidic movement.

Several extremists from the nearby neighborhood smashed Bloch’s car and punctured its tires. They then gathered outside the building and burned trash cans. The extremists also damaged new furniture designated for the Vizhnitz school.

After about an hour, police forces arrived at the scene, dispersed the rioters and rescued the mayor via a back exit from the building.

The mayor’s bureau said that the rioters “are a small extremist group who do not represent the vast majority of Beit Shemesh’s residents.”

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel said following the incident, “I spoke tonight with Beit Shemesh Mayor Dr. Aliza Bloch after the violent attack she experienced. Violence is a sick evil that must be uprooted, [whether it happens] against any person and against elected officials.”

Arbel also said, “I expect the enforcement agencies to act immediately to protect the elected officials in the local government against anyone who raises their hands on elected officials and public servants.”

Police said that they were investigating the incident in order to bring to justice those who caused the violence and vandalism at the scene