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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Anti-overhaul protesters target ultraconservative, influential Jerusalem yeshiva |
| 2023-07-06 |
| [IsraelTimes] Demonstrators say Har Hamor, headed by Rabbi Zvi Tau, ’symbolizes the messianic stream that is leading the regime coup’; one protester arrested in attempt to disrupt traffic Dozens of protesters against the government’s judicial overhaul held a rally Wednesday morning in front of a Jerusalem yeshiva headed by Rabbi Zvi Tau, the spiritual leader of the coalition’s ultraconservative, anti-LGBTQ Noam party and an influential figure for many in the current government. Alinsky’s Rules For Radicals in action. Tau, who heads the Har Hamor Yeshiva in the Har Homa Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, is on the most religiously conservative edge of religious Zionism.He has faced some protests directed against him specifically in recent months, as several people have stepped forward to accuse him of sexual assault. No charges have been filed. But Wednesday’s protest was directed against Tau’s yeshiva and its ideology and influence, with demonstrators claiming it was leading Israel "in the direction of a halachic state," referring to a state governed by religious Jewish law. "We came to protest against messianic religious Zionism that is destroying Israel," protester Tamir Levital told Channel 12 news. "The rabbis who educate teenagers here are the same rabbis supplying religious Zionism’s politicians, who are taking Israel in the direction of a halachic state of Jewish supremacism and racism." Thought crimes must be punished. Protesters held Israeli flags and smoke flares. One demonstrator was arrested as some attempted to disrupt traffic in the area.The protest organizers said they chose the location because Har Hamor "symbolizes the messianic stream that is dangerous to the state and leading the regime coup." They charged that if a halachic state is formed, "it won’t include rights for women, LGBTQ people or other minorities — it will include annexation of territories and apartheid. We won’t let this happen." They argued that Tau and his equally hardline disciples such as Yigal Levinstein were the "spiritual leaders" of a series of senior politicians and ministers in the current government who have been promoting the overhaul, including far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, and the sole Noam party MK Avi Maoz. At one point, a member of the yeshiva came out and chided the protesters, citing the death last night of IDF soldier David Yehuda Yitzhak during the final stages of Israel’s major counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp. "There is a family this morning that became a bereaved family," the person said, according to Channel 12. "You have no boundaries. You have no God." However, you can observe a lot just by watching... several protesters justified holding protests at this timing, citing the continuation of the overhaul’s legislative efforts and even speculating that the entire Jenin operation could have been intended as a diversion from that legislation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition says the overhaul is needed to rein in an overpowered and biased judiciary. Critics say it will remove crucial checks on government powers and undermine Israel’s democratic foundations, as well as leaving the rights of minorities unprotected. Related: Judicial overhaul: 2023-07-04 Israeli police tussle with anti-government protesters as chaos erupts at Ben Gurion Airport Judicial overhaul: 2023-07-02 Israeli National Security Adviser Says Country Not Close to Attacking Iran's Nuclear Sites Judicial overhaul: 2023-07-02 Turnout rises, several arrested as anti-overhaul protests enter 26th week |
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