Ayelet Hashahar Synagogue in Givat Ze'ev
Ayelet Hashahar Synagogue in Givat Ze'evEliran Aharon

Head of the Givat Ze'ev Local Council Yossi Avrahami once again called on Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon to retract his statements against worshippers at the Ayelet HaShachar synagogue on Tuesday, after Ya'alon claimed they were "occupying the land" despite 20 years of community life there. 

"This is a great community, a rich community, and Ya'alon is marking our residents," Avrahami stated in a special interview with Arutz Sheva

He further urged Ya'alon to demand the High Court delay the synagogue's demolition by a year, or even two, noting that the demolition appears to be timed to distract the Israeli public from the ineffectiveness of the government against the current terror wave. 

Avrahami once again noted that the land was bought legally when the synagogue was built - and even promised to move the synagogue if, and only if, the land could be conclusively proven to be Palestinian. 

While such matters are usually discussed in local courts, he noted that the High Court directly intervened in this case, due to a petition from extremist leftists Yesh Din. 

He also addressed Ya'alon's claims that the community refused temporary structures for the synagogue, noting that all he was offered was a 150-sq-meter (1614 ft) caravan - which Avrahami noted the ground in Givat Ze'ev is not suitable for. 

Outrage has snowballed against Ya'alon, who insulted the Givat Ze'ev community at large during a controversial press briefing Monday night. 

Ya'alon slammed supporters of the synagogue Monday in a press conference, drawing some moral equivalents to the extremists who torched a Palestinian Arab home in Duma. This, despite the fact that a wide spectrum of public officials have rallied behind the synagogue and called to save it, stating that sends the wrong message to Israelis over the character of the Jewish state. 

"Support for these young men, who throw urine bags and rocks at security personnel, [support] from politicians - they are the seeds of destruction," he said. "It is not surprising then that they take the law into their own hands."