Yeshiva rabbi attacked in Jaffa, kicked and beaten by two Arabs

By World Israel News Staff

Eliyahu Mali, head of the Shirat Moshe yeshiva, was assaulted in Jaffa by two Arabs.

Rabbi Mali was visiting an apartment together with a colleague with the prospect of buying if for the use of the yeshiva, reports Channel 12. The two were surrounded by a group of Arabs and told to leave. When they took out their cellphones to document the abuse they were attacked.

Video of the incident shows Mali, who is in his 60s, kicked by two Arab men in their 30s even as he falls and he lies sprawled on the ground. He and his associate were sent to the emergency room but didn’t require hospitalization for their injuries. The two suspects were quickly captured by police.

The video roused the ire of politicians, with the harshest criticism coming from those on the Right.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, “I strongly condemn the violent attack today in Jaffa against Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, head of the Shirat Moshe yeshiva. Thanks to the security forces for the speedy arrest of the suspects. I look forward to exhausting the full severity of the law with them.”

Knesset MK Rafi Peretz, tweeted, “This picture is chilling. The attack on dear Rabbi Mali is serious and I will demand that the attackers be dealt with severely. It is not possible to allow a reality in which Arab rioters attack Jews just because they are Jews. The police and the enforcement system must act aggressively in the face of this criminal violence. About this violence, it is forbidden to be silent!”

The strongest condemnation came from Naftali Bennett, leader of the Yemina party. In the first of a three-part tweet he wrote:

“The State of Israel is not a shtetl where they can harm Jews.

“The severe and blatant violence against Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, head of the Hesder Yeshiva in Jaffa, is a disgrace and a national disgrace.

“We are witnessing a series of attacks by Arab rioters against Torah and mitzvot observant Jews in a deliberate and anti-Semitic manner.” “Mitzvot” is a term for Jewish religious commandments.

The most recent attack might be part of a worrying trend where Arabs attack soldiers, Haredim and the symbols of the state and then post those attacks to social media.

Recently, a suspect, Muhammad Rajabi, 18 from Jerusalem, documented and uploaded to Tik Tok a clip of an attack in which another Arab walks over to an ultra-Orthodox 14-year-old boy sitting on the train and violently slaps him in the face for no apparent reason. He then flees.

Another social media clip making the rounds is of three young Arab men sitting in judges’ chairs and dancing to music in an Israeli courtroom in Beer Sheba after they were freed from prison.