Israeli Protesters Disrupt Attorney General’s Prayers For Dead Mother
Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Anti-corruption protesters accosted Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit as he said Kaddish for his deceased mother.
The incident occurred on Saturday night outside of a synagogue in Petah Tikvah near Mandelblit’s home. The worshippers had stepped outside of the synagogue to participate in the prayers that bless the new moon and Mandelblit joined them to recite the Kaddish.
The protesters, who have participated for over a year in weekly demonstrations outside the attorney general’s home to urge him to prosecute Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for corruption in at least two investigations against him, spotted Mandelblit outside of the synagogue and started shouting at him.
Security arrived to help Mandelblit, though his wife reportedly took him home. Organizers of the weekly protests distanced themselves from the incident, saying it was not part of the official protest.
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called the incident “violent thuggery.”
“The lines of legitimate protest have been crossed recently. Harassment during Shabbat—and at the attorney general’s synagogue, no less—is violent thuggery and denigrating behavior,” she said.
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog also condemned the protesters.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
