Dozens of extreme haredim protested on Monday evening in Beit Shemesh against the Dorot community center, which operates in the city in a manner they do not agree with.
The demonstrators suffered severe and irregular police violence, with documentation from the demonstration showing police officers hitting the demonstrators with batons.
In the recording, the police can be heard verifying whether "there is permission" [to take action] and after receiving a positive reply, used batons with irregular violence. After the publication of the video, the Department of Internal Police Investigations (Machash) opened an immediate investigation.
The police stated that "Police Commissioner Danny Levy regards the incident that took place this evening in Beit Shemesh, which goes against the values of the Israel Police, very severely and ordered an immediate investigation of the circumstances, including the conduct of the senior officers and policemen who were involved in the incident." If we find out in the investigation that the police officers acted illegally, they will be dealt with severely."
Later, the police announced in a second statement that the officers and commanders who were involved in the incident would be removed from operational activity. "From a preliminary viewing of the videos, it appears that the conduct of the police officers in the incident is not consistent with what is expected of them as police officers and with the values of the Israel Police. In accordance with what has been said and at this stage, the police officers and commanders involved will be removed from operational activity, until administrative measures are considered in their case."
Liran Tamari, Ynet's reporter for police affairs, wrote: "This was not the use of force necessary to clear a demonstration. This was the use of force to cause fractures and injuries."
On the other hand, a resident of Beit Shemesh claimed that "law-breaking hooligans and vandals physically blocked an entrance to an event designed to help hundreds of haredim find employment. The police evicted them from the site too late and in a too weak manner, and unfortunately did not arrest any of them."