Yesterday I profiled Yekutel Ben Ya’acov, the Kahanist settler leader who wants an independent Jewish “entity” in the West Bank; today it’s time get acquainted with some of his friends. The Jerusalem Post reports:
Far-right activists took credit Thursday for the severe deterioration in Ariel Sharon’s health, claiming that a pulsa denura – Aramaic for “lashes of fire” – death curse they instigated against the prime minister in July was the real catalyst behind his current state of health.
I blogged on this ceremony when it was first reported. The jubilant activists were interviewed in Kfar Tapuah, the militant Kahanist stronghold in the West Bank where Ya’acov resides. Among them were Baruch Ben-Yosef and Yosef Dayan:
Upon hearing the news of Sharon’s stroke, Ben-Yosef said, the group broke out in song and dance and celebrated the prime minister’s fall throughout the night.
…Yosef Dayan – another participant in the pulsa denura ceremony – said that Thursday was a “great day” for the State of Israel since Sharon, whom he called an “evil man,” was incapacitated and could no longer return to power.
Dayan claims to be a direct descendent of King David, and sees himself as a natural candidate for King of Israel once the evils of democracy have been swept away and a Jewish theocracy installed. Ben-Yosef, the Post fails to tell us, is the former Andy Green, a man who remains a suspect over the 1985 murder of an Arab-American activist, Alex Odeh, in California (See this ConWebWatch entry).
Another participant added some mystical numerology (square brackets in original):
“There is a judge in this world,” Ben-Gvir said. “[Prime minister] Yitzhak Rabin was killed on the fifth anniversary of Meir Kahane’s murder and Sharon fell ill on the anniversary of Binyamin Kahane’s murder.”
This must be Itamar Ben-Gvir, a well-known Kahanist leader who has a history of incitement and violence against Palestinians (see this PBS report).
Meanwhile, the Forward notes that settler violence is “escalating”.
(Tipped from Paleojudaica; Failed Messiah has further details of the Israeli far right’s response to Sharon’s illness)
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