Masorti Jews under attack in Netanya
Synagogue vandalized for fifth time in a month
The Masorti (Conservative) synagogue in Netanya was vandalized once again at the beginning of this week, and has now been attacked on five occasions in just over a month.
The Municipal Council of Netanya condemned the incident, and Mayor Miriam Feirberg-Ikar has given instructions to security personnel to increase patrols at the site.
This past Shabbat, Bet Israel synagogue members who came for the morning service discovered that one of the glass doors at the front of the building had been smashed for the fourth time in recent weeks.
In another incident last month, teenagers entered the synagogue, ran up to the first floor, knocked over and damaged a water cooler – flooding the floor – and knocked over a sculpture.
Since the first set of attacks at the beginning of May, the synagogue has installed security cameras, and footage of a single individual perpetrating the attack was captured by the system.
The footage is being turned over to the police, although a formal complaint has not yet been made by the synagogue.
Emeritus rabbi of Bet Israel, Ervin Birnbaum, 89, said he felt “utter disgust with society” and that he could not understand
how such attacks could be committed.
He said he did not think the perpetrators were necessarily haredi (ultra-Orthodox), but he believed they had been motivated by an animus towards progressive Judaism.
“These people think they are defending society and serving religion, but they don’t understand that they are destroying society,” Birnbaum said.
“The community is very frustrated with the city and with society. Which direction are we going in this city? The people here want a change of perspective where people accept the other and accept people who are different,” he said.
Director of the Masorti movement in Israel Dr. Yizhar Hess accused haredi leaders – who have spoken disdainfully and disparagingly of the progressive Jewish movements in recent months and years – for inciting the vandals.
“The comments of the haredi political leaders about [progressive Judaism], which can only be described as antisemitism, lead to deeds,” said Hess, calling on the police to give the attacks “their full attention.”
He also called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to condemn the incidents, and to Feirberg-Ikar “to do everything she can to protect the community in her city and to help its members feel secure in the city in which they live.”
Hess said pointedly that if such vandalism took place abroad, or in an Orthodox synagogue in Israel, the country would be up in arms.
The Netanya Municipal Authority said in response to the incident, “We strongly condemn all acts of vandalism,” and that the issue was being dealt with by the police. “At the same time, Mayor Miriam Feirberg-Ikar has instructed the [municipal] Enforcement, Supervision and Security Administration to increase patrols at the site,” it said.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office said, “We condemn in the strongest possible terms the vandalism of any synagogue or other house of worship.” •