Jerusalem Mayor Is Target of Violent Attacks by Haredim
Fervently Orthodox Jews mobbed Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and threw stones at his car.
The mayor’s car was damaged in Sunday evening’s attack, which occurred as Barkat was leaving a personal meeting with a prominent Jerusalem rabbi in the Ezrat Torah neighborhood.
Police were called to bring the mayor to safety.
“I will not succumb to violence, and whoever thinks he will make strides through violence and bullying is incorrect,” Barkat said following the incident.
The attack comes as haredim continue to demonstrate every Saturday night against the opening of a Jerusalem parking lot on Shabbat, and following continuing controversy over a fervently Orthodox woman under house arrest after being accused of starving her 3-year-old son.
Haredi politicians in Jerusalem condemned the attack.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
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And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
