Haredi Rioters Attack Home of Israeli Supreme Court Justice

Dozens of ultra-Orthodox extremists smashed windows and damaged property while attempting to break into the home of Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice Noam Sohlberg Wednesday night, the latest violent demonstration targeting judicial and law enforcement figures over the arrest of Haredi draft dodgers.

Images from the Alon Shvut settlement showed shattered windows, a car with a smashed windshield, and a small Israeli flag defaced with a swastika in place of the Star of David. Both Sohlberg and his wife were home during the attempted break-in.

Sohlberg’s wife Meira invoked Holocaust memory in her remarks to reporters outside the vandalized home: “We are children of Holocaust survivors; how can Jews hurt one another? Look at this devastation — it’s a pogrom. What is this, Kristallnacht?”

The apparent motivation may relate to Sohlberg’s public criticism of the government’s failure to enforce conscription, and his participation in the 2024 unanimous ruling that invalidated longstanding IDF draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.

President Isaac Herzog condemned what he called “a dangerous crossing of a red line,” warning that disagreement, however deep, cannot turn into violence and intimidation. Prime Minister Netanyahu also condemned the riot and called for the perpetrators to face justice.

The attack followed a series of similar incidents, including Haredi rioters breaking into a Beit Shemesh police station and a separate incident in April when members of a radical Jerusalem faction broke into the home of the Military Police chief while his family was inside.