3 Jewish suspects arrested for throwing firebomb at Yahad rally in Jerusalem

Attack comes amid bitter infighting with Shas, allegations of election fraud.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Eli Yishai (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Eli Yishai
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Three male Jewish suspects were arrested early Wednesday morning after allegedly throwing a firebomb shortly before midnight at a large youth rally supporting embattled Yahad party chairman Eli Yishai in Jerusalem’s Har Nof.
According to Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, the firebomb exploded in the middle of a street near Yishai’s home, where the gathering of approximately 200 assembled. No one was injured, he said.
“Police arrived shortly after the petrol bomb was thrown and found the three suspects, two of whom are minors, hiding in Har Nof,” Rosenfeld said.
After spending several hours in jail, the three were arraigned at Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Wednesday afternoon, he said, at which time a judge placed them under house arrest for at least five days.
The rally took place in front of Yishai’s home to support the politician following weak election results. Yishai leaders have alleged that Shas activists perpetrated voter fraud, resulting in the poor showing.
Shas representatives have patently denied the accusations.The day before the election, Yishai sent a letter to his bitter rival, Shas leader Arye Deri, calling for peace and unity between the two parties in order to defeat “evil decrees” against the Torah and against the working class.
However, Deri dismissed Yishai’s note as hypocritical, stating that he had pleaded for cooperation with him before he quit Shas, to no avail.
Yishai broke away from Shas after the Knesset was dissolved in December following more than two years of internecine conflict between the two when Deri returned to the party and ousted Yishai as chairman in 2013.
Rosenfeld did not say if the three suspects are affiliated with Shas.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.