Bentzi Gopstein, the head of the anti-assimilation organization Lehava, has been detained for questioning by Jerusalem-area police due to a satirical post he uploaded onto social media.
The post in question is a picture of a tractor in the act of demolishing the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, with the caption, "Let's demolish the Dome of the Rock." To put the post into context, Gopstein was echoing a very similar post uploaded by the extreme-left Peace Now organization, which recently posted a picture of the Homesh yeshiva in northern Samaria, with the caption, "Let's demolish the Homesh outpost."
During his interrogation this Sunday, Gopstein was asked if truly did have the intention to demolish the Al Aqsa Mosque. Gopstein responded that he always operates within the law, and added that he would like to appeal to the government to demolish the mosque as soon as possible.
"This is political persecution," Gopstein said later. "The Jerusalem police department did not summon members of Peace Now to be questioned, even though they have been indicating for the last few weeks that they intend to take the law into their hands and destroy homes in the settlement of Homesh. I wasn't the one who started this, and I do think that satire is a tool that both sides are permitted to make use of."
Gopstein added, "I appeal to the government to remove this disgrace from the Temple Mount and destroy the mosque there as soon as possible. This is the holiest site in the world for the Jewish People. We will build our Holy Temple on the mosque's ruins."
