“This country was given to the sons of Isaac and not to the sons of Ishmael,” said party leader Michael Kleiner to residents. “Just as I won’t want Jews to be moved to France, we will not remove Arabs from Israel forcefully, but we are offering them to evacuate willingly in exchange for a fitting amount of money. They can choose from the 22 Arab countries at their disposal.”
Arab Neighborhoods Committee head Kamas Agbariya told Kleiner, “Arabs are residents of this country.”
Kleiner and 14 of his supporters were beaten up and fled as rioting residents pelted them with bottles and stun grenades. They later tried to return to the scene but were blocked by police.
Residents angrily called Kleiner a racist and told him he was ruining co-existence. “Get out of here,” they shouted as the activists fled the scene. “Fascists and racists, get lost.”
National Jewish Front party Chairman Baruch Marzel and his associate, Itamar Ben Gvir soon joined the Herut activists, also clashing with Arab residents. Police blocked the group from moving on to other neighborhoods in the Tel Aviv suburb, where interracial incidents have been rare.
One resident suggested that Kleiner should be offered compensation to leave Israel himself. “He should go to Alaska,” he said. Inflaming passions is easy, but putting out the fires is much harder,” observed another.
Knesset member Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) expressed outrage Thursday after Herut members entered Jaffa earlier in the day with leaflets telling Arabs to move out of Israel.
Gal-On demanded that the Central Elections Committee “restrain the thugs of the Herut movement”, and said “This is no longer verbal violence alone with incitement, but physical violence which causes blood to be spilled.”
Herut party spokesman Shmuel Ari later accused the Jaffa residents of behaving badly in response to their campaign activities.
“All we did was talk to them. It was a legitimate offer from us, but they preferred to respond with violence. We have no problem honoring them, but what they did was a disgrace to democracy,” said Ari.
Both Kleiner’s Herut party, and Marzel’s Hazit party are at risk of falling short of the minimum Knesset voter threshold in this Tuesday’s national elections.
Arab Neighborhoods Committee head Kamas Agbariya told Kleiner, “Arabs are residents of this country.”
Kleiner and 14 of his supporters were beaten up and fled as rioting residents pelted them with bottles and stun grenades. They later tried to return to the scene but were blocked by police.
Residents angrily called Kleiner a racist and told him he was ruining co-existence. “Get out of here,” they shouted as the activists fled the scene. “Fascists and racists, get lost.”
National Jewish Front party Chairman Baruch Marzel and his associate, Itamar Ben Gvir soon joined the Herut activists, also clashing with Arab residents. Police blocked the group from moving on to other neighborhoods in the Tel Aviv suburb, where interracial incidents have been rare.
One resident suggested that Kleiner should be offered compensation to leave Israel himself. “He should go to Alaska,” he said. Inflaming passions is easy, but putting out the fires is much harder,” observed another.
Knesset member Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) expressed outrage Thursday after Herut members entered Jaffa earlier in the day with leaflets telling Arabs to move out of Israel.
Gal-On demanded that the Central Elections Committee “restrain the thugs of the Herut movement”, and said “This is no longer verbal violence alone with incitement, but physical violence which causes blood to be spilled.”
Herut party spokesman Shmuel Ari later accused the Jaffa residents of behaving badly in response to their campaign activities.
“All we did was talk to them. It was a legitimate offer from us, but they preferred to respond with violence. We have no problem honoring them, but what they did was a disgrace to democracy,” said Ari.
Both Kleiner’s Herut party, and Marzel’s Hazit party are at risk of falling short of the minimum Knesset voter threshold in this Tuesday’s national elections.