From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
‘A real Jew does not call an IDF officer a murderer’: Politicians condemn last night’s Haredi mob attack
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Politicians from both the coalition and opposition condemn last night’s mob attack on two senior Israel Defense Forces officers in Bnei Brak, declaring that such actions do not represent Jewish or Israeli values.
The officers, who were in the majority-Haredi city for a meeting over the establishment of a Haredi brigade in the army, were set upon by dozens of ultra-Orthodox rioters who surrounded their car and shouted “murderer” and other epithets.
“A real Jew does not call an IDF officer a murderer,” tweets Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, a former defense minister.
The attack “does not represent even a fraction of the ultra-Orthodox public” and efforts to “establish new frameworks adapted to the lifestyle of the ultra-Orthodox public” in order to increase their enlistment must be continued, says Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Attacking IDF officers is “not Jewish, not Israeli and does not represent the majority of the ultra-Orthodox public,” declares ex-war cabinet minister and National Unity chairman Benny Gantz, a former IDF chief of staff.
“The extremist discourse that is taking over Israeli society is dangerous and deserves a sharp and clear condemnation from the entire leadership — but more importantly, a root canal. It’s time to turn off the poison machines, before disaster strikes,” he says.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls the IDF officers the “holy of holies of Israeli society” and pledges that the “police will work to locate the offenders and bring them to justice.”
