MK Moshe Gafni
Photo: Gil Yohanan
MK Uri Maklev
Neturei Karta attack MKs
Knesset members Maklev, Gafni attacked in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood for 'cooperating with Zionist regime'
Knesset members Uri Maklev and Moshe Gafni (both United Torah Judaism) were attacked Thursday in the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim.
A Gafni aide said to Ynet that the attackers were members of the Sikarikim group, considered to be among the most extreme of the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta movement, know for its opposition to the State of Israel and its institutions. They were responsible for a similar incident about a month ago in which stones were thrown at Minister of Internal Affairs Eli Yishai (Shas).
The incident took place near one of the synagogues in the area. According to eyewitness reports, the two MKs had stones thrown at them and Gafni even had a chair hurled at his back. They ran away from the scene to the house of Rabbi Salonim.
They had previously met with Rabbi Elyashiv, and at the time of the attack had been engaged in dialogue between the two rabbis about the Emmanuel affair and the continuation of the struggle. They had just completed the minhah prayer in a synagogue when they were attacked by a group that protested their cooperation with the "Zionist regime."
"This is proof that these hooligans don't just hurt the secular public but even the haredim themselves," the aide said to Ynet. "Worse than that – they hurt representatives of the public who are delegates of the sages of Israel."
Shmulik Grossman also contributed to this report
