Clashes broke out after the onset of Yom HaZikaron in Israel on Tuesday evening at the entrance to a Reform synagogue in Ra’anana, where a screening of a Palestinian-Israeli Yom HaZikaron ceremony in Yaffo was being held.

The majority of Israelis, especially after the October 7 massacre, view such a ceremony, in which Palestinian “victims” of the Israeli “occupation” are mourned along with Jewish victims of Palestinian terrorism, as a terrible affront.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the synagogue and demanded that the municipality cancel the screening. Some protesters managed to enter the building as the crowd chanted “We won’t allow terror supporters to enter Ra’anana,” and “There are no innocent people in Gaza,” and “Death to terrorists!” and “Am Yisrael Chai.”

Some of the protesters threw stones, eggs, and firecrackers and clashed with the police. Three suspects were arrested.

The police said that “clashes broke out between protesters and those present. Police officers who were at the scene intervened between the sides and arrested three suspects for assault, including the assault of four police officers who were lightly injured and treated at the scene. The suspects were transferred for questioning at the police station, and the continuation of their detention will be examined according to the findings.”

Prior to the ceremony, an ad was published calling for protesters to gather at the site: “We will not let supporters of terror enter Ra’anana,” the announcement stated. “Tonight, for the first time in the city’s history, the extreme organization Standing Together plans to hold a joint Zikaron event for Nukhba terrorists alongside fallen IDF soldiers as if they were equal. We will not allow them to defile the city.”

Following the incident, the chairwoman of the Likud branch in the city, Racheli Ben Ari Sakat, published a post on social media in which she expressed support for the protesters and even issued a direct threat against the left in the city.

“Thousands arrived at a protest in Ra’anana against enemies of Israel who held a memorial ceremony for Nukhba terrorists who defiled our children and brothers,” wrote Ben Ari Skat. “They burned, murdered, raped, and tore children away from their parents and murdered them in front of their eyes. They abducted, tortured, murdered and raped.”

“We will remember and we won’t forget.”

“To the left in Ra’anana, I announce – this is just the opening shot, don’t test us. We in the right also know how to do this and maybe even better than you. The small difference between us is that we’re fighting for the kedushah of the lives of Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, and Toras Yisrael…and not for the ‘kedushah’ of Nukhba terrorists.”

“Today, you have been exposed in your nakedness, and you brought it upon yourselves. So, everyone who came from outside Ra’anana, stay away from here, don’t defile our wonderful city. And those who are in Ra’anana, you have been warned.”

“We will not be silent anymore, we will go out in hordes. Am Yisrael Chai.”

Bereaved mother Merav Hajaj, whose daughter was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in 2017, wrote: “You can hold a Palestinian-Israeli ceremony in Ramallah or Gaza – not in Ra’anana. In my name and the name of hundreds of bereaved families, thank you to the residents of Ra’anana and Am Yisrael.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)