Housing Minister and UTJ chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf came out with a sharp condemnation Tuesday after footage emerged of a group of Chareidi youths shouting at IDF soldiers touring the streets of Bnei Brak earlier in the day.
The video, which quickly spread on social media, shows a few bochurim yelling at soldiers as they walked through the mostly Chareidi city. However, not all present displayed such behavior. One young man was seen stepping forward to shake a soldier’s hand respectfully, even as others shouted from the sidelines.
“I strongly condemn the criminal behavior of fringe youths who attacked IDF soldiers in the city of Bnei Brak today,” Minister Goldknopf wrote on X. “This is not the derech of Torah Yidden. We owe hakaras hatov to IDF soldiers, who put their lives on the line to protect Klal Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.”
The Bnei Brak municipality also released a statement denouncing the incident, emphasizing that such conduct does not reflect the values or attitudes of the broader Chareidi tzibbur.
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14 Responses
It’s shocking indeed! Really sad. האים זו דרכה של תורה? How could this happen? Who would they wish to call if arabs came through the streets? Maybe they should try it?
They were condemned by the Housing Minister and by the Bnei Brak municipality.
Nothing from the Rabbonim?
“We owe the soldiers hakoras hatov”?
I don’t recall a single Gadol expressing that hakoras hatov. or even mentioning the soldiers at all.
Am I missing something?
The Lubavitcher Rebbe זצ”ל always praised the soldiers for being ont he front line to protect Am Yisroel!
This is the way of Torah!
“Goldknopf wrote on X. “This is not the derech of Torah Yidden. We owe hakaras hatov to IDF soldiers, who put their lives on the line to protect Klal Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.””
Not exactly. They put their lives on the line to protect the Zionist “State” of Israel, not “Eretz Yisrael”, and also not “Klal Yisrael” (other than perhaps the members of Klal Yisrael living in that “State”).
marc:
Yes, you are, as in the whole history of Zionism and its destruction of Judaism. The Zionists were always the enemies of the Jews (except for the ones who wanted to convert to Zionist). Zionism and its “State” exist for one reason only: to change Jews and Judaism into Zionists and Zionism. That’s obviously not okay for any Jews.
Regarding the military angle, the gedolim warned that if the Zionists invade and make their “State” as they did, that there will be wars forever, which is what happened. The Jews begged the Zionists to stop their invasion and to leave them to live in peace as they were before the Zionists invaded over a century ago (yes, the Chevron Massacre about a century ago happened because of, not due to a lack of, Zionism and Zionists). But the Zionists didn’t listen and instead signed up for forever wars against the wishes of the Jews.
So, if an arsonist would set fire to a home and then run to the house with a fire hose, first determine how much hakaras haTov you would say that one should have for that arsonist. Once you clarify that, then you can ask your question about how much, if any, to have for Zionists.
Hakatan, again you are factually wrong. In the Ottomon Empire, despite the Jews being “protected” dhimmis they were butchered by their Muslim hosts. This was nothing new in Muslim ruled countries. The Muslims subjegated the Jew and taxed him into poverty, promising “protection.” Just like the mob, we had to pay protection money, but that was only to protect against their own violence, which happened anyways.
A partial list of pogroms against jews in the middle east prior to 1900 includes:
1033 Fez Massacre (Morocco) – Thousands of Jews were killed or forcibly converted during a wave of violence in Fez under the Almoravid dynasty.
1066 Granada Massacre (Al-Andalus, modern Spain but under Muslim rule) – A Muslim mob slaughtered thousands of Jews in Granada, following tensions related to the Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela.
1465 Fez Pogrom (Morocco) – After the assassination of a Jewish advisor to the Sultan, a mob massacred much of the Jewish population of Fez.
***1517 Safed Pogrom (Ottoman Palestine) – During the Ottoman conquest of the region, Jews in Safed were attacked, with many killed and their homes and synagogues looted.
*****1834 Safed Pogrom (Ottoman Palestine) – During an anti-Ottoman uprising by local Arabs, Jewish homes and synagogues were pillaged, and many Jews were killed or assaulted.
****1840 Damascus Affair (Ottoman Syria) – A blood libel accusation led to widespread persecution of the Jewish community, including arrests, torture, and international outcry.
****1860 Damascus Massacre (Ottoman Syria) – Though primarily directed at Christians, Jewish neighborhoods in Damascus also suffered looting and violence.
1867 Barfurush Pogrom (Persia/Iran) – A Jewish man accused of blasphemy was executed, and local Jews were attacked in the Iranian city of Barfurush.
1875 Mashhad Pogrom (Persia/Iran) – Jews in Mashhad faced violent attacks, building upon previous persecution, including forced conversions in 1839.
1891 Anti-Jewish Riots in Hamadan (Persia/Iran) – Jewish homes and businesses were looted after false accusations were spread against the community.
We are infidels in the eyes of every Muslim . We can convert, die by the sword, or pay jizya tax and live as a dhimmi under their feet. These pogroms happened before Zionism, not because of it. Just like the Christian pogroms of Europe that happened long before Herzl was even born.
This is the foreseeable outcome of Rabbinic leaders who say that one should not express Hakaras haTov to soldiers, either because (a) they’re just doing their jobs, or (b) it might cause Chareidi youth to see something positive in army service and then C”V join the army.
What a twisted, warped version of Judaism they’ve created.
an Israeli Yid
Hakatan, you are like a broken record. If you would spend as much time in the Beis medrash as you spend writing essays filled with ignorance and sinas chinam and posting them on YWN, you might accomplish something good in your life.
Not the derech of Torah maybe not. But are the Zionist the way of the Torah. Turning Israel into a sodom. Why is that not condemned. Raising a million Jewish kids in public schools and not yeshivas. Is that derech ha torah. Pork stores,chillul shabbos and tattoo shops is that derech HaTorah. Don’t think so.
He is not daas Torah shame on him
Heimisha guy –
So the answer is to curse and yell at them? That will certainly bring them closer to Yiddishkeit. Go back to Yeshiva and learn some actual Torah.
Lakewoodblt:
Nothing that you wrote in any way contradicted that which I wrote.
As well, since Zionism’s ignoble founding and lies claiming to represent Jews and all the rest, the hatred of Jews worldwide has exploded on a scale never been seen before.
Finally, your list of incidents totally pales in comparison to that which the Zionists have caused, including the massive hate, destruction and expulsion of Jews from Arab lands after the Zionists declared their “independence”, not to mention the Mufti and the Holocaust and all the rest throughout their disastrous history.
Aseh maat ve emor harbeh:
Perhaps you could take your own advice and learn what sinas chinam is and is not, and also perhaps some Tehillim, like “Halo misanecha Hashem esna…”
anIsraeli…:
This is the foreseeable outcome of Zionist leaders who continue Zionist oppression of Jews in the Zionist paradise, including religious coercion and persecution of Jews like attempting to force Jews into the shmad army of the Zionists where those Jews are compelled to violate the three inviolable cardinal sins and also compelled to convert from Judaism to Zionism.