Israel arrests 5 hardline Jews for ‘spitting’ on Christians
Police in Israel arrested five ultra-orthodox Jews after a video on social media showed they were spitting in the direction of Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem triggering widespread criticism including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says a report.
In a press statement, Netanyahu said that he “strongly condemns” the actions by a handful of Jews and promised swift action against the perpetrators, Israel Today reported on Oct. 4.
“Offensive behavior toward worshippers is a desecration and is unacceptable. We will show zero tolerance toward any harm to worshippers,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog echoed similar sentiments while addressing a gathering at the annual Feast of Tabernacles on the same day.
“We will insist on protecting all of the religious communities that make up the beautiful human mosaic of our country and safeguard every site, religious leader, and human being from any vile expressions of hatred or intolerance,” Herzog said.
“This commitment goes to the very heart of who we are as a Jewish and democratic state. And it is not something we will ever compromise on,” Herzog added.
Following condemnation from the top brass, Israeli police identified and arrested five unnamed individuals based on the viral video that has been in circulation on X, formerly Twitter, on Oct. 3.
Police officials said that they will charge the suspects with assault, Israel Today reported.
Dozens of Orthodox Jewish protestors, gathered outside the venue of the Feast of Tabernacles, holding placards reading “Your intentions are exposed! Stop pretending now!”
The slogans were aimed at the notion of Christian Zionism, which holds the idea that the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 and the return of Jews to Holy Land were according to the Bible prophecy.
The incident triggering the arrests took place on Oct. 3 during Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, traditionally held in Jerusalem’s Old City.
It is one of the three feasts during which Jews gather in Jerusalem from other parts of Israel and abroad in obedience to God’s command to come up to the holy city for worship.
The video showed foreign Christian pilgrims exiting a church with a large wooden cross as they began their procession. Around four Jews including children who were passing the Christians in the opposite direction spat on the ground as they neared the pilgrims.
According to Jewish tradition, spitting is a custom related to warding off external evil or impurity which is viewed as insulting according to Western etiquette.
Simcha Rothman, a prominent right-wing leader in Israel’s House of Representatives alleged that there were over a dozen instances of Jewish prayer services being disrupted and Orthodox worshippers harassed on Yom Kippur, and not one arrest was made.
