Organizers of the Million Man Atzeres are reporting the visible Israel Police presence at the Atzeres tefilla will be negligible. While there will be many private security troops and ushers to maintain order, organizers fear the presence of uniformed police will incite those prone to violence and lead to a most unwanted scene.
Concerns seem to be focusing on the early evening hours when the event is over, as the hundreds of thousands begin making their way home. It appears organizers and police agree that the best scenario is uniformed private guards and ushers and most of the police presence will not be uniformed. A large police force will however be on standby, but the officers will not be dispersed among the crowd to avoid conflict.
Maran HaGaon HaRav Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman Shlita has stated repeatedly this is not a protest but an atzeres tefilla to recite Tehillim to cry out against the Chilul Hashem caused by the state in its effort to draft bnei yeshivos.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
The headline should read:
Minimal Police Presence …
This is a good idea. The last thing anyone needs is for the oppressors themselves to be in our midst while we are crying out in pain from their oppression.
Maybe the plaincloths police can help us take over the government just like in ukraine egypt lybia yemen
Heavily armed police smashing unarmed protestors would be bad publicity. If the Agudah/Degel ha-Torah/Shas loses control, then the anti-zionists will take over the hareidi community. While the anti-zionists are clearly conscientous objectors under inernational standards, their willingness to see the state replaced with a non-zionist one is unacceptable to virtually all non-hareidi non-Arab Israelis, meaning there will be no hope to avoid a confrontation. The political leadership didn’t get to be leadership but for their ability to forge compromises that avoid such a confrontation.