Hundreds protest Haredim arrests in Israel

JERUSALEM, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- The arrest of six members of Israel's ultra-orthodox community on tax charges brought hundreds of people to a rally in Jerusalem Sunday.

The six defendants, who are accused of hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax violations linked to a fundraising organization, include the personal assistant of Rabbi Yitzhak Tuvia Weiss, the leader of the Eda Haredit community, Ynetnews reported.

Along with the protest in Jerusalem's largely ultra-orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhood, Ynetnews said dozens of people also protested in Beit Shemesh, with two arrests reported after oil was poured on a road to impede travel.

The ultra-orthodox Haredim threatened to "set Jerusalem on fire," Yenetnews said. Earlier, more than 30 Eda Haredit rabbis marched on a Russian neighborhood police station in Jerusalem, where they prayed and one protester could be heard screaming: "Damned Germans, go back to Germany," the Israeli news Web site said.