National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir canceled the prayer service he had planned for Thursday after being pressured to do so by his fellow coalition members.
In a statement released by the minister’s office, the claim was that Ben-Gvir had changed his mind as a result of “an announcement by the far-left protest leaders saying they wouldn’t repeat the antisemitic activity they led on Yom Kippur.”
“I’m happy the extreme Left understood that there is no place for antisemitism against Jews in the heart of Tel Aviv,” said Ben-Gvir. “We have one Jewish nation where Jews can pray in public spaces whenever and wherever they want.”
Ben-Gvir had announced the service following the events of Yom Kippur in which protesters disrupted a Kol Nidrei prayer service in Dizengoff Square as the holiday began because the congregants set up a partition to divide men and women despite the Tel Aviv Municipality and the High Court of Justice banning it.
Counter-prayer planned?
A counter-prayer on Thursday was announced by the Kaplan Force protest organization soon after Ben-Gvir’s invitation for people to join him. The Kaplan Force’s service was set for an hour-and-a-half after Ben-Gvir’s and was supposed to take place in Dizengoff Square as well but was moved to Habima Square instead on Wednesday.
“Ben-Gvir’s provocation is staying in Dizengoff,” the announcement said.
The view that Ben-Gvir was creating a provocation by holding his prayer service was held throughout the coalition as well, with many urging Ben-Gvir to cancel his event or move the service to a synagogue in the area.
“I want it to be clear to everyone that Jews are allowed to pray anywhere in the world without disruptions,” said Economy Minister Nir Barkat on Wednesday morning. “The truth is that [the Yom Kippur incident] broke my heart. I see the extremists in the State of Israel pulling us to the edges and ripping the extremely important social fabric that connects us.
“We need to work toward unity and love and work on our common denominators while not allowing extremists to lead us to the crumbling of our social fabric. Therefore, I call on Ben-Gvir as well not to provoke and not to go to Dizengoff. I call on everyone to focus on what connects us and not on the edges.”
When asked if he would attend the prayer service, Innovation, Science, and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis said that Ben-Gvir would do better to move it to a synagogue so as to avoid a provocation in a public space.
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