Protesters attack Housing Minister Galant’s car during Amona visit
Angry mob surrounds the minister, calling him a 'traitor' and 'filthy leftist' as he visits the outpost set for evacuation; protesters later set upon Galant’s car, shaking, kicking and throwing eggs at it, preventing it from leaving.
Dozens of young protesters attacked the car of Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant during his visit to the Amona outpost on Sunday morning ahead of its planned evacuation.
The young protesters kicked and shook the car and hurled eggs at it while calling out "traitor" and "filthy leftist" at the minister.
Galant (Kulanu) arrived in Amona with MK Moti Yogev (Bayit Yehudi) and the head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, Avi Roeh. He first visited the local synagogue and then, while flanked by security guards, headed towards the outpost's houses.
An angry mob surrounded the minister, shouting statements at him such as "The Land of Israel is not for sale," "Let's see you evacuate Bedouin the way you evacuate here," and "Enough with the High Court's rule."
Galant himself later dismissed the incident, telling Ynet "We've been through harder things."
"I felt that there was a handful of people—mostly teens aged 12-16—who didn't have anything to do or someone just didn't take them to school, so they were making some noise," Galant said.
"Those who attacked the car were a handful from Lehava (an anti-assimilation radical right-wing group). It wasn't the residents of Amona who attacked the housing and construction minister," he added. "And even that was a minor attack, nothing serious."
Galant said he came to Amona to speak to the settlers. "I wanted to tell them some difficult things," he said. "Primarily—we have to maintain the unity of the state and the nation. The second thing was that the State of Israel is a law-abiding country and the decisions of the court must be executed. The third thing was that any friction and violent confrontation with IDF soldiers will be harmful to the IDF, to the State of Israel, and to you, the residents. The last thing I wanted to say was that we are on the path to building a newer, stronger Amona—even if it's in a nearby place—and we will continue protecting the settlement enterprise."
Avi Roeh, the head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, said: "We welcome the minister who came despite the fact there are young people here who are frustrated about the fact a 20-year-old town is going to be evacuated. At the same time, we're trying to keep the town—here or nearby. Our goal is to dismantle the left-wing's plot to take down the settlements. We will try to stop this slippery slope of evacuations—this is the government's duty. At the end of the day, the residents here feel they are on a mission."
