PM, President Herzog, Haredi ministers condemn mob attack on Beit Shemesh mayor
‘We must denounce the extremists and the violent among us,’ says United Torah Judaism chairman Goldknopf in wake of assault on Degel Hatorah’s Shmuel Greenberg
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"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition allies issued scathing condemnations of political violence on Thursday, after a Haredi mob assaulted Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg and his family, overturning the mayor’s car and injuring his 19-year-old son.
Greenberg, a member of the ultra-Orthodox Degel Hatorah party, was attacked overnight by residents angry at the municipality’s recent demolition of a synagogue linked to an extremist sect that violated building codes.
Video from the scene showed black-clad Hasidic Jews rocking the vehicle back and forth while someone screamed in the background.
Another clip showed the mayor, wearing a helmet, being rushed out of a building by armored police as a baying mob chased him amid shouts of “Nazi.” He was then placed in another car and rushed from the scene.
In a phone call, Netanyahu asked Greenberg about his family’s well-being, and said, “Stay strong, I greatly appreciate your resilience. This rioting is intolerable,” according to Greenberg’s office.
Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf, the leader of the United Torah Judaism party, tweeted: “I spoke this morning with the mayor of Beit Shemesh, my friend Shmuel Greenberg, and encouraged him in light of the violent attack he experienced. We must denounce the extremists and the violent among us.”
Goldknopf has himself previously been subjected to violence from extremist elements within the Haredi community.
Last summer, his car was stoned by participants in an anti-conscription demonstration in Jerusalem.
הזוי: קבוצת קיצונים יצרה הערב אנרכיה ברחובות בית שמש, כאשר במהלך מחאה סוערת הפכו את רכבו של ראש העיר. תושבים מזועזעים מתיעוד האירוע וקוראים למשטרה לפעול ביד קשה נגד המתפרעים ולעצור את המעורבים.
???? צילום: הפרגוד מקומי בית שמש pic.twitter.com/Rp1m91DPqz— ישראל כהן (@Israelcohen911) March 19, 2025
Dramatic footage of Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg being rescued by police from an ultra-Orthodox mob screaming "Nazi" at him this evening. The mayor's car was overturned pic.twitter.com/761DW7K4KF
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) March 19, 2025
Following Wednesday evening’s mob violence, Greenberg’s Degel Hatorah party issued a statement condemning “the brutal attack by a group of violent thugs” as a “desecration of God’s name.”
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri called him to offer his support.
“Don’t give in on anything, be strong,” Deri said. “You have a stable coalition and full backing.”
In a statement, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel called the incident “a dangerous crossing of a red line, which cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.”
“Attacking an elected official is an attack on the rule of law and democracy itself, and has no place in Israeli society,” the Shas politician declared, calling on law enforcement to “bring the rioters to justice with the utmost severity.”
“This is a time of testing for all of us. We must stand together, regardless of background or political differences, and say in a clear voice: Violence has no place, neither against elected officials nor against any person. The Interior Ministry will continue to support the mayors and ensure that they can fulfill their public mission without fear,” Arbel added.
Greenberg also received a call from President Isaac Herzog, who encouraged him to stand strong and “not be afraid.”
In a letter to Police Commissioner Daniel Levy and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Haim Bibas, chairman of the Federation of Local Authorities, demanded that police find and prosecute Greenberg’s attackers and “take all necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future.”
Speaking with local media outlet Beit Shemesh News, Greenberg pledged to “maintain public order in the city and not be afraid of anyone.”
“They will not take anything from us through violence,” he declared.
The incident Wednesday night was far from the first mob attack against a mayor of Beit Shemesh.
In August 2023, in the second attack in less than two months, dozens of extremists rioted outside a local school while then-mayor Aliza Bloch was touring the building. The rioters hurled objects, started a fire and vandalized her car, effectively holding her hostage for nearly two hours until she was rescued by police.
The attack on Greenberg came only days after Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush’s son was beaten by assailants who reportedly also tried to snatch the minister’s infant grandson — an attack thought to be linked to the Haredi politician’s support for the state budget and inter-party disputes concerning army enlistment.
The attackers, said to be neighbors affiliated with the Gur Hasidic dynasty, nabbed the baby’s stroller from Moshe Porush while he was in the stairwell near his father’s residence, tearing his clothes and pulling at his beard, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to Channel 12.
A Jerusalem District police spokesman told The Times of Israel that they were investigating the attack on Porush’s son, but are not treating the incident as a kidnapping attempt.
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