Settlers protest IDF general’s presence at yeshiva event

Mizrahi has roused the ire of those who have received such orders, which he signed, and they have accused him of “expelling Jews from their homes.”

By JEREMY SHARON
Avi Mizrahi 311 (photo credit: IDF Spokesperson)
Avi Mizrahi 311
(photo credit: IDF Spokesperson)
A number of settlers gathered outside the Jerusalem International Convention Center (Binyanei Ha’uma) Sunday night to protest the participation of OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi in an event celebrating the 32nd anniversary of the establishment of the Shavei Hevron Yeshiva in Hebron.
Included among them were several settlers who have received restraining orders, which prevents them from entering Judea and Samaria.
Mizrahi has roused the ire of those who have received such orders, which he signed, and they have accused him of “expelling Jews from their homes.” They also hold him responsible for plans to remove several unauthorized settlements in the coming weeks.
A number of those who have received restraining orders were present outside the event handing out leaflets in protest at Mizrahi’s participation.
Last week, activists appealed to the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Hannanel Etrog, to dis-invite Mizrahi from the event, but he declined to do so. In response, posters bearing an open letter addressed to the heads of the yeshiva were hung around the streets of Hebron over the weekend, with the slogan “Avi Mizrahi: the expeller of Jews!” The letter recognized Mizrahi’s service for the “security of the State of Israel,” but said he was responsible for “the expulsion from their homes of families and youngsters,” and was also planning “the expulsion of hundreds of Jews from the length and breadth of Judea and Samaria and the destruction of their homes, God-forbid.”