Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked
Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch
Shaked: Anti-AG protestors crossed a red line
Justice minister slams group of protestors who allegedly prevented Attorney General Mandelblit from attending a synagogue service near his Petah Tikva home to pray for his recently deceased mother. 'People shouldn’t be chasing public figures and disrupting their private life,' she says.
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked on Sunday slammed a group of protestors
who allegedly prevented Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit from attending a synagogue service near his Petah Tikva home to pray for his recently departed mother's soul.
Asked what measures should be taken, Shaked replied: "At the moment, I'm considering whether anything can be done through legislation, but I don’t want to get there. I think the public protest against this despicable move is the important thing, and we've heard voices from across the political spectrum. This move was clearly illegitimate, and I hope this will put an end to it.
After referring to the incident as "violent thuggery" on Saturday evening, Shaked told Ynet on Sunday morning that "there is an atmosphere of incitement in which everything is allowed, and limits simply must be set."
The protest outside the Petah Tikva synagogue, Saturday (Photo: Ariel Schnabel, Makor Rishon)
The incident took place at the Nigunei Haim Synagogue. While some worshipers left the synagogue to recite Kiddush Levanah—a series of prayers blessing the new moon—Mandelblit stepped outside to recite the Kaddish prayer for his deceased mother.
When protesters spotted him, they called out, "You ruined this country." A verbal altercation then broke out between the protesters and one of the worshipers, who denounced the demonstration being held before Shabbat ended. Protesters, meanwhile, vowed to return to the weekly protests in the future.
A Justice Ministry security guard who happened nearby extracted Mandelblit to safety.
Justice Minister Shaked. Considering legislation (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
"I think people are confused," Justice Minister Shaked said. "The right to protest is a very important right in a democratic state, but people shouldn’t be chasing public figures and elected representatives and disrupting their private life.
"I spoke to the attorney general on Saturday evening. These protestors, regardless of what they say, filmed him before Shabbat ended. The fact is that they stopped him from reciting the Kaddish for his mother. That's the bottom line and that's a red line that has been crossed. It's a serious case of harassment and we must put an end to it."
The altercation outside Attorney General Mandelblit's synagogue (צילום: אריאל שנבל, מקור ראשון)
"On Thursday, while visiting Tel Aviv's Shapira neighborhood, I was approached by a group of anarchists who screamed 'murderer' and threw their phones in my face. As horrible as that was, you know, at least it was during working hours. Here it was done during the attorney general's private time with his family, while he was praying and while he was commemorating his mother, and that's something that must not be done.
"The attorney general has an office. They can protest outside the office. There is a very clear High Court ruling which states that a public figure has the right to a private life and bans protests outside his house. People have to respect that. You have to understand that these protests outside the homes, which have become a routine mater, scare the public figures' children too."
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said ahead of Sunday's cabinet meeting, "What we saw on Saturday night was simply terrorism. This must not be allowed. Protests are not a tool for disrupting a public figure's life and his family's life. Stopping a public figure from reciting the Kaddish for his mother is a public offense. It's a type of violence."
