The yarmulke-wearing Stern heads the IDF Personnel Corps. When he arrived with his family to pray at the Western Wall on Friday evening, a large group of worshipers began calling him names, and some even threw rocks. He later said that his young daughter was afraid and began to cry, but that he himself was not afraid. The police escorted the Sterns away from the area, and detained one suspected attacker.
Gen. Stern has angered the the religious camp several times in the recent past. He caused a storm earlier this year when he announced his intention to dismantle the hesder yeshiva units and spread their soldiers out in larger battalions. Stern later threatened, without authority, that if two hesder yeshivot deans who encouraged their students to refuse disengagement-related orders do not resign, the army would call off their hesder arrangement.
The rock attack was widely condemned. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Stern on Saturday night to sympathize with him, saying he views "this criminal act with great gravity." Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz said, "Every attack against a soldier for activities that he carried out in the framework of his army service is delinquent behavior that we will never accept." IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz similarly condemned the attack on Stern.
MK Zevulun Orlev, head of the National Religious Party, said, "Differences of opinion cannot justify violence. This is not the path of religious-Zionism... especially not at the holiest place for Jews and on the Sabbath eve."
Gen. Stern arrived again at the Western Wall yesterday, where another group of worshipers yelled at him for his part in uprooting Jews. Speaking at length with Ynet afterwards, Stern said, "Whoever thinks he can determine who will arrive at the Kotel and pray is mistaken. Everyone may come there, and it is very sad that there are those who call themselves 'important rabbis' and are part of this wild behavior." He refused to talk with Arutz-7 on the matter, however.
Gen. Stern is not the only public figure to be targeted during a public appearance recently on the backdrop of his support for the disengagement plan. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, currently the Acting Finance Minister and a strong promoter of Sharon's expulsion plan, was jeered on Yom Kippur night at Jerusalem's Great Synagogue after he was honored with opening the Holy Ark and publicly greeted. One worshiper called out, "He is a criminal! He destroyed synagogues [in Gush Katif]! He destroyed yeshivas and Talmudei Torah!" Other worshipers silenced the heckler.
Rabbi Elyakim Levanon of Elon Moreh told Arutz-7 that the verbal attack on Olmert was not advisable, "for as we saw, it did not achieve the desired result; the heckler was silenced, while Olmert remained." Rabbi Levanon has said that it "is not forbidden, but it is certainly unpleasant" to pray together with people who took part in the disengagement.