An anonymous attacker hurled a Molotov cocktail from a window in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem at a support rally for Yachad – Ha’am Itanu chairperson Eli Yishai on Tuesday night, which took place outside Yishai’s home in the western neighborhood of the capital.
Fortunately there were no wounds or damage inflicted by the firebomb attack; the identity of the attacker remains unknown.
Hundreds of pro-Yachad youth gathered in front of Yishai’s house in an attempt to encourage him after the party came roughly 5,000 votes short in last week’s elections – the party, which ran on a joint list with Otzma Yehudit, has charged that Shas activists committed mass voter fraud during the elections, and have submitted a petition.
Shortly after the youths gathered in front of his house, Yishai came out and said “I love you all, the activists, the headquarters heads, all those who voted Yachad and the people of Israel. I hereby declare that this revolution was not stopped. I am so strengthened and encouraged by you all, your faith in our path is very strengthening and encouraging.”
Two Shas activists were arrested on elections day for trying to steal Yachad ballots, with Yachad reporting that activists disqualified mass quantities of its slips nationwide by marring them with tiny holes and marks, in a blatant breach of democracy.
“We knew it would happen, we anticipated and prepared for all kinds of tricks to disqualify votes, we went on the path of the truth and we didn’t harm others, not with physical violence and not with verbal violence,” said Yishai.
He continued, “but we will tell the truth. They stole the elections here, democracy disappeared here.”
Noting on the verbal attacks against various rabbis associated with Yachad and its supporters, he added “every single voter was harmed, but I announce that no one will stop us, we will continue and build the movement with all our strengthen.”
“They stole the elections from us and the pain is great, because we didn’t lose in democracy but rather in theft,” he charged. “We founded a movement to increase free love among the people of Israel despite all the obstacles. Over 30 years I have been active in elections campaigns, but the great love that was in these elections I have never seen.”
Yishai concluded, “just so as to see this joy and unity it was worth it to found this holy movement. How much those mandates are missing for the world of the Torah, for the weak social classes. Who will give an accounting on this theft of mandates?”
A key platform of Yachad was unity between haredi and national religious Jews, behind a clear right-wing ideology and emphasis on the Jewish people, Jewish religion and Jewish state.
Yishai’s tension with Shas stems from the fact that he was previously chairperson of the party while Aryeh Deri took a hiatus from political life after being jailed for corruption in 1999, before coming back and eventually forcing Yishai to split off.
