Rioters storm Ra’anana synagogue during screening of Israeli-Palestinian memorial event

The Israel Police said it arrested three people suspected of assault during a riot by right-wing activists at a Reform synagogue in Ra’anana, where people had gathered Tuesday evening for a screening of a joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony.

Four police officers and three participants in the event were lightly injured in the violence.

Demonstrators threw objects and firecrackers at the building, forced their way inside, and assaulted participants. After backup officers arrived, event attendees were evacuated in small groups, surrounded by police, who pushed through the crowds of some 200 protestors. Some said demonstrators attacked their vehicles as they left, damaging the cars and causing injuries.

MK Gilad Kariv (Labor), a Reform rabbi who accompanied one of the injured people to the hospital for treatment, called the incident “an attempted pogrom.”

The local head of the ruling Likud party branch warned that the disruption was just the “opening salvo” in a campaign.

The nearby Kfar Saba police force was supposed to provide security for the ceremony, a police spokesman said. Participants claimed they alerted police that there was a demonstration being organized, but that only a handful of officers were deployed to secure the event, and they proved inadequate in the face of the 200 protesters who turned up.

זרקו אבנים, תקפו, ריסקו לאחותי את האוטו עם אבנים כשהיא בתוכו.
פיגוע טירור של נוחבות יהודיות בלב רעננה. pic.twitter.com/R6hChXkUqX

— dz ???????????? (@ZimermanDavid) April 29, 2025

Police said in a statement, “A disturbance began between protesters and participants. Police who were at the scene separated between the sides and arrested three assault suspects.”

The three suspects were taken to a nearby police station for questioning. Officers were to decide whether to request an extension on the detainees’ remand.

The screening at Beit Samueli was of a live feed from the annual Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony, held in Jaffa and organized by Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle – Families Forum, a grassroots organization of bereaved Israelis and Palestinians who have lost family members to the conflict.

Some 80 people attended the synagogue event, Channel 12 news reported.

In footage published online, protesters could be seen crowding around the courtyard and on the steps leading to the entrance to the synagogue, many of them clutching Israeli flags.

A number of protesters also forced their way into the building itself, where they hurled abuse at the event’s participants, including telling them to “go to Gaza,” while chasing after them, the Haaretz daily reported.

בנוכחות כוחות משטרה ממשיכים אנשי הימין הקיצוני להכות משתתפים, לקרוא מוות למחבלים, לשמאלנים ועוד. המשטרה טרם השתלטה על האירוע pic.twitter.com/GGaOWdrZNo

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) April 29, 2025

“You are Nazis! Nazis!” someone screamed at a participant, who captured the chaos on camera.

“Death to terrorists! Death to terrorists!” others chanted and applauded. “All the Arabs are whores!”

Police were called to the scene to evacuate people from the event, while protesters continued to hurl abuse.

“I thought I was going to die,” Shuvit, who participated and gave only her first name, told Channel 12 shortly after she was evacuated from the scene. “We went through hell, we are shaking and unable to breathe. We suffered stones, firecrackers, eggs, kicks, spitting, beatings.”

She said that as she left the building, protesters spat at her and someone threw a stone at her head, causing an injury. She said she saw an elderly woman also injured in the head from a stone.

Police were unable to control the situation, she said.

“There were dozens of officers who didn’t know what to do,” Shuvit said and described how several officers surrounded each participant as they were brought out of the building.

“Without them, we would not be alive,” she said, noting that police were also badly beaten by protesters.

Haaretz reported that a woman wearing a hijab who drove past the area of the disturbances was attacked by activists who banged on the windows and doors of her car, hurled verbal abuse, and spat at the vehicle. Police arrived to extract her from the mob.

Orly Erez-Likhovski, director of the Israel Religious Action Center and deputy director of the Reform Movement in Israel, was lightly injured when the windshield of her car was smashed. She required hospital treatment.

“People kicked at the car, someone threw a stone at us, and two motorcyclists chased after us,” she told Haaretz.

Erez-Likhovski said the movement had notified police that they received threats beforehand, but only five officers were sent to secure the event.

She said that despite the disturbances, the event went ahead: “They didn’t manage to ruin it.”

The right-wing Btsalmo activism group had called on people to demonstrate at the screening.

“Don’t allow terror-supporters to enter Ra’anana,” the group urged in a flyer. It said the protest would “demand cancellation of the municipal budgeting and the restoration of territory to the city’s residents.”

A Ra’anana resident, who was not named in the report, told Haaretz she sent the flyer to police during the afternoon before the event.

Kariv, the Labor party lawmaker, also spoke with local police and warned them that right-wing protesters were planning to demonstrate, the report said.

“Tonight, we again met the ugly face of incitement, violence, and hatred of the far-right. The role of police is not only to care for the well-being of citizens who choose to mark Memorial Day with a joint event, but also to send a clear message to those hooligans who choose violence,” Kariv said in a statement.

In a post to X, Kariv said the synagogue faced “an attempted pogrom” from “hate-filled hooligans who enjoy a tailwind and a blind eye” from state leaders, an apparent reference to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the police.

תראו את זה.
הטירוף הזה ברעננה שם אחת ממשתתפות הצפיה בטקס יום הזיכרון האלטרנטיבי מותקפת בידי המון ומפונית תחת אבטחה של שוטרים לרכבה.
קללות, גידופים, איומים, תקיפות פיזיות, מה לא.
וזה היה ידוע מראש. איפה הייתה המשטרה ואיך אפשרה את האלימות הזאת נגד אנשים שהעזו לחשוב אחרת? pic.twitter.com/nl53mIml8R

— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) April 29, 2025

The Parents Circle-Families Forum, which organizes the annual memorial ceremony, said in a statement, “It is regrettable that on a day like this in which we are memorializing our dear loved ones as a result of the circle of blood, there are those who choose to silence us with violence. We will not stop our campaign for peace, justice, and security for both peoples.”

Standing Together, which aims to bring together Jewish and Arab communities, said in a statement that the “bullying disruption and attempt to prevent the screening by a minority of extremists will not deter us.”

It said joint remembrance events were held at dozens of locations around the county.

“We spread hope and a voice that recognizes the humanity in all — Israelis and Palestinians — and that works for a life of peace, freedom and security for both peoples.”

Meanwhile, the head of the ruling Likud party’s branch in Ra’anana praised the rioters.

“To the left in Ra’anana, I announce that this is only the opening salvo. Don’t try us,” Racheli Ben Ari Sakat wrote in a post on Facebook that included video of her addressing the demonstrators.

“Whoever comes from outside Ra’anana, get away from here,” she further threatened. “And those in Ra’anana, you’ve been warned. We will not be silent anymore [and] will come out in throngs.”

The Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony has been held annually for 20 years alongside Israel’s official ceremonies on the Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror.