Supporters of the Peace House in Hevron held a rally in Tel Aviv on Thursday opposite the home of Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The rally was held under the slogan, “Barak, you made a mistake with Federman—don't repeat it with the Peace House.” Those present held signs with pictures of the Peace House and slogans such as “Tel Aviv is with the Peace House” and “Barak—deal with the Kassams, not the Peace House.”
Organizer Michael Kleiner of the Herut party said he normally opposes protests targeting specific leaders, but that in this case, Barak was targeting the Peace House for personal reasons and so the protest was directed against him personally. Barak is acting against the Jewish community of Hevron in order to rally support for the Labor party, which is falling in the polls, Kleiner said.
"Does Barak want to appeal to the High Court against [Hevron resident Noam] Federman and destroy a legal building in Hevron?” Kleiner asked. “He should pay for it himself. Let the Labor party pay for the appeal against Federman, why should we taxpayers pay for Barak's election campaign?”
Demonstrator Chaim Rabinovich of Ramat Gan said Barak's plan to evict Jews from the Peace House was part of a last-ditch attempt to regain popularity among left-wing voters. “Mr. Barak saw the drop in the poll numbers, his crash to the bottom, and sent police and Yassam officers to Noam Federman's farm at 1:30 AM,” he said.
Barak is misleading the public by claiming to simply be following a High Court order to evict Peace House residents, Rabinovich said. “That's a lie. The High Court left it up to the politicians to decide.... if there weren't elections in two months, those Jews would not be expelled.”