Cafe owners who protested legal shakeup return to sign with Jewish terror group logo

The owners of a cafe in the central Israel city of Kfar Saba said they found a menacing message that included the logo of the Kahane Chai (Kach) Jewish terror group at the entrance to their business on Tuesday, after they put up a sign earlier in the week notifying customers that they would be closed on Monday in order to attend the Jerusalem protests against the government’s judicial overhaul.

In addition to the infamous logo of the outlawed Kach movement, the flier found in front of Cafe Israela included the caption: “No buying from those who protest against the government in Jerusalem.”

The owner, named Israela, and her husband Yaki Brosh shut their establishment’s doors Monday with a note saying the cafe was closed for the day as “We are in Jerusalem” — an obvious reference to the mass demonstrations against the government.

Roni Dori, a friend of the couple, publicized the incident in a Facebook post.

“I don’t want to write what this reminded me of. Any person with a brain and eyes can see and understand,” she said, ostensibly referring to the Nazis’ boycott of Jewish shops in Germany in 1933, and to the resemblance of the Kach logo to the yellow star used at the time to mark Jewish establishments.

Dori’s post went viral and the cafe saw a significant uptick in customers on Tuesday.

Among the patrons was Kfar Saba resident Itai Gal, who told Channel 12: “When I read the post, I couldn’t believe that something like this was happening in Kfar Saba, and I had to come and show my support. I usually don’t come here, but this time it was necessary. It’s not about the coffee, it’s about solidarity.”

Labor party chair Merav Michaeli also stopped by, filming a video statement in which she said: “I came to stand with Cafe Israela, which was threatened with a Kahanist fist just because they dared to go to a demonstration against the dangerous and scandalous coup d’état” — a reference to the overhaul, which critics say will upend Israel’s democratic foundations.

“I came and found out that there were no more cakes or cookies left because everyone came to show their support. This is what is needed, friends. We will beat this coup d’état. They don’t scare us, not the thugs of Ben Gvir nor the thugs of Netanyahu,” she added.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir heads the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, whose members have described themselves as disciples of the late extremist rabbi Meir Kahane. Ben Gvir says he no longer agrees with some of Kahane’s most extremist statements, but he again spoke at the Kach founder’s memorial event last November.

Yaki and Israela told Channel 12 that they were not deterred by the sign and planned to continue attending protests against the government’s effort to restrict the power of the High Court of Justice.