As ultra-Orthodox zealots continued their demonstrations here against alleged Sabbath desecrations, Jerusalem Police Chief Zvi Rudin today summoned leaders of the Neturei Karta and of the Satmar Yeshiva, to tell them the police would have no alternative but to use counter-force if the rioting continued. The leaders, conferring separately with the police chief, told him they condemned acts of violence by their adherents but insisted they could not acquiesce in the Sabbath desecrations in their sections of Jerusalem.
The police warning followed several incidents last Saturday. One group of youngsters from the ultra-Orthodox Beit Israel quarter beat up a cripple driving his car through their section before sundown. Another group stoned a bus carrying Christian tourists who had crossed into Jerusalem from Jordan via the Mandelbaum Gate. In a third instance, that could have had international repercussions, zealots threw a stone at a United Nations automobile carrying U.N. Truce Supervision Organization personnel.
Ten youths arrested in earlier rioting of this type are still being held for trial. One man, Avraham Lehrman, a 26-year-old American, arrested with the 10 two weeks ago, had his case speeded because he was scheduled to depart for his home in the United States. He was arraigned this morning on a charge of illegal assembly, and was fined twenty pounds ($6,33).
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