Jerusalem, 16 June, 2026 (TPS-IL) — The State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment with the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court against 17 defendants, four of whom are minors, after they participated in a riot and trespassing at the home of the Chief Military Police Officer (CMPO) in Ashkelon during a protest against the conscription of yeshiva graduates into the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).
The indictment filed by Attorney Hila Klepper Cohen of the Southern District Attorney’s Office indicates that about a month and a half ago, in the evening hours, at least dozens of demonstrators belonging to the ultra-Orthodox movement gathered near the home of the head of the Military, with the aim of protesting against the conscription of yeshiva graduates into the IDF.
At a certain point, shortly after the demonstration began, some of the demonstrators broke through the locked entrance gate to the commander’s house and entered the yard. At the time, his wife and two of his children, one of whom is a minor, were in the house.
Dozens of protesters, including the defendants, entered the yard of the house, onto the balcony and on the steps leading to the house. Some sat or stood there, holding hands. The defendants and the protesters sang protest songs, waved signs, and shouted insults against the KMC and the IDF, while the family members were besieged in their house, unable to leave safely, with dozens of additional protesters crowding the entrance area from the street.
According to the indictment, as a result of the riot, the family members of the deputy commissioner felt fear and apprehension that they would be harmed, closed the shutters of the house, locked the front door and called the police.