Right-wing agitator released after questioning over blocking cars of former Supreme Court president, ex-PM

Police confirm that they have released right-wing activist and provocateur Mordechai David on restrictive conditions after they questioned him over the blocking of the cars of a former Supreme Court president and an ex-prime minister.

David is banned from contact with any individuals involved in the case for 30 days.

Police say they received complaints accusing him of violating public order, trespassing and assault.

Tel Aviv police had reportedly summoned David for questioning Saturday night, then cancelled the interrogation the next morning, only to summon him again hours later.

David and a number of other activists blocked the car of former prime minister Ehud Barak in the city on Saturday night, with David calling Barak, a former IDF chief and Israel’s most decorated soldier, “a nothing.”

They pulled a similar stunt with retired judge Aharon Barak days prior, preventing him from exiting a Tel Aviv parking lot after he gave a speech at a conference Thursday evening.

David opened the door to Aharon Barak’s car and filmed himself calling the 89-year-old the “Khamenei of our generation,” referring to Iran’s supreme leader. “Lucky for us, his generation has passed. We are the new generation, the generation of the messianic age,” David said in the recording.

Aharon Barak, a Holocaust survivor, is internationally respected and is seen as Israel’s preeminent jurist. Within Israel, he has long been vilified by right-wing leaders for his judicial activism when he led the country’s top court in 1995-2006, and is blamed by many in that camp for what they view as the current ills of the judicial system.