Ongoing protests and riots by ultra-Orthodox groups against the extension of Jerusalem’s Light Rail into their neighborhoods have inflicted roughly NIS 600 million ($200 million) in cumulative damages to the project in the capital, according to government estimates.

Haredi extremists have been staging protests at the construction site in Jerusalem’s Bar-Ilan area, which sits in the center of several ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, for the past six years. However, the riots against efforts to expand the light rail in the capital have intensified in recent weeks.

The ultra-Orthodox demonstrators oppose the light rail running through their neighborhoods, believing it will bring with it unwanted intrusions from the secular world.

Earlier this week, police from the Jerusalem district dispersed a group of ultra-Orthodox rioters who entered the light rail construction site of Jerusalem’s unfinished Green Line around the Bar-Ilan area, attempting to cause damage and disturb public order. Some of the Haredi demonstrators managed to break through the construction fence and were seen lying down on stacks of pipes, according to a report by Hebrew news outlet Channel 12.

In recent months, Haredi extremist groups have repeatedly been disrupting construction around the Bar-Ilan area by toppling fences, pouring cement onto tracks, and damaging essential infrastructure such as pipes and electrical........

© The Times of Israel