'Synagogues abroad need protection from antisemitic threats. Here in Israel, we were assaulted by Jews'

Orly Erez-Likhovski was worried when she heard about the threats against attendees of a screening of the annual alternative Israeli-Palestinian Joint Memorial Ceremony in the city of Ra'anana set to be held at a Reform synagogue on the eve of Israel's Memorial Day.

Erez-Likhovski, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), told Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer how the "emotional and moving" ceremony was disrupted by hundreds of opponents chanting outside, throwing stones at the building, and intruders attempting to break in and disrupt it. At the end, when police escorted her to her car, a stone smashed her windshield and injured her.

"It was very, very, very scary," she said. "I've been to many protests in the last 20 years because of my work at IRAC. But I've never seen such an amount of violence and hatred in my life. It was really a very, very frightening experience."

Despite the violence, Erez-Likhovski said she was "proud" of the congregation for refusing to back down and cancel the event because of the hate and incitement. "Giving in to extremism is dangerous in itself, but also because it's a slippery slope. I think we have to stand up for our values."

She said she was disappointed by the police's failure to handle the situation and the "insufficient" reaction of the country's leaders, who failed to condemn the violence.

"I would expect everyone to condemn this, because it seems like a very basic thing to say you should not come and hit people and try to kill them because they think differently. Unfortunately, this is not obvious in the current state of affairs in Israel."

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