Cops arrest protester for ripping poster of fallen soldier hung by hawkish group

Police say they have detained a person suspected of ripping down a picture of a soldier killed in battle near Gaza, next to a Jerusalem anti-government protest.

Posters from the Gvura Forum showing pictures of soldiers killed in Gaza and calling on the government to press its military offensive so their deaths won’t have been in vain are hung in various areas around Paris Square, which abuts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence, the locus for protests in the capital.

The flyers appear alongside other banners backing calls for a hostage deal and ceasefire, reflecting ideological divisions over Israel’s priorities in waging a campaign to eliminate the Hamas terror group.

According to police, the suspect tore down a poster showing Cpt. (res.) Elhanan Meir Kalmanson, 41, who was killed on October 8 while battling Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri.

Police describe the suspect as a protester, indicating that he peeled off from the main demonstration.

The arrest comes a day after a former judge in Beersheba was filmed tearing down posters hung by the Tikva Forum, another hardline group representing families of October 7 victims and soldiers killed in fighting since then.