Thursday night's Ann Arbor City Council meeting temporarily came to a halt as city police had to intervene and escort dozens of anti-Israel protesters from city hall.

Protesters were shouting loudly and calling for a boycott of Israel. After several unsuccessful attempts to control the crowd, uniformed police officers stepped in and asked them to leave.

After some initial pushback, the protesters listened to police and left the building while continuing to shout in protest. The council meeting resumed within about 10 minutes.

Mayor John Hieftje and other council members were evacuated from the council chambers and held in a side room while the police confronted the protesters, who made it clear they were upset at the council for not holding a public hearing on a resolution to boycott Israel.

Hieftje said statements made by protest leader Blaine Coleman during the opening public comment period were "absurd." He and other council members said despite what the protesters claim, the City Council cannot stop the killing in Gaza with passage of a resolution to boycott Israel.

Hieftje said the protesters should think about whether "a raucous crowd shutting down a City Council meeting" was the image they wanted to portray for their cause.

Representatives of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor were in attendance Thursday night to relay a statement from their group in support of the decision to not hold a public hearing on a resolution to boycott Israel.

"We agree with your position that such hearings in the city of Ann Arbor, with large communities of both Jews and Muslims and Israelis and Arabs, would only cause division among our city residents and distract City Council from the important work of making Ann Arbor the best city it can be for everyone that lives here," reads the letter from Executive Director David Shtulman and President Laurie Barnett.

They argued the charge of city government is to govern the city, not try to resolve international conflicts or take positions in such conflicts that would cause tensions between and divide residents of the city.

"We in the Jewish community hope that a time will come when all conflicts will find their just and equitable resolutions," they concluded.

Local resident Tom Partridge raised concerns about personal safety at the end of the meeting and said he thought the city let the protesters go too far.

"I was very concerned with my own safety here tonight," he said.

Ryan Stanton covers Ann Arbor city hall for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com or 734-623-2529 or follow him on Twitter.