Tov party election HQ vandalized in Beit Shemesh

A party spokesman accused the “local haredi political machine” in Beit Shemesh of engaging in verbal incitement.

By SAM SOKOL
haredim in beit shemesh (photo credit: REUTERS)
haredim in beit shemesh
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The locks of the Beit Shemesh campaign office of the moderate ultra-Orthodox political faction Tov were glued shut on Monday evening, in what may be the beginning of a campaign of low grade harassment by haredi hardliners.
Tov activists told The Jerusalem Post that they will be filing a police complaint over the incident, which occurred only two days after an ultra- Orthodox man was filmed demanding that a participant at a Tov event in Jerusalem remove his black hat. Another ultra-Orthodox man physically assaulted the cameraman filming the incident and threatened to break his camera.
A party spokesman accused the “local haredi political machine” in Beit Shemesh of engaging in verbal incitement and said that harassment constitutes “proof of why a moderate haredi political party is so desperately needed.”
“Although the election campaign has barely started, political incitement and vandalism are in full swing,” he said. “Tov will not be intimidated by the hooligans and violence for which Beit Shemesh has unfortunately become known.”
Monday’s incident was committed by “hooligans with political agendas that don’t have our city’s interests in mind,” Tov Beit Shemesh chairman Aharon Salomon told the Post. “We reject them and we know voters will as well.”