Jerusalem Court Frees Haredi Activist Who Wished AG Dead, Slams Selective Enforcement

Photo Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Jerusalem Magistrate's Court Judge Chavi Toker during a swearing-in ceremony at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, Oct. 30, 2017.

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Thursday ordered the release of an Israeli who held up a sign against the attorney-general, with the judge accusing authorities of selective enforcement in incitement cases.

Judge Chavi Toker, a U.K.-born resident of Bnei Brak who made history in 2018 by becoming the Jewish state’s first female haredi magistrate’s court judge, said the suspect—who held up a sign reading, “Master of the World, kill Gali Baharav-Miara and all her supporters,” at a Jerusalem’s bus station—likely did not commit any crime with the public display of the prayer.

The ruling also noted, “We have recently witnessed a phenomenon of [incitement by] public figures, some of whom were cited by the state attorney, in which no investigations were opened against them.”

Toker cited a Jerusalem District Court decision in which it was decided to release left-wing activists because their actions were part of a protest.

תושב ירושלים כבן 40 נעצר אחרי שנשא שלט: "ריבונו של עולם, תהרוג את גלי בהרב מיארה וכל תומכיה"@nakash_noam pic.twitter.com/tIaQtvQkhM

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) December 5, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been subject to heated rhetoric over the years that has sometimes crossed the line into threats of violence, especially during last year’s judicial reform debate.

In fall 2023, protest organizer Shikma Bressler drew a parallel between Netanyahu and Nazi Germany, saying during a panel discussion that “it is forbidden to talk to Nazis, whether they are Jews or non-Jews.”

The premier said of the protests at the time, “Demonstrators chanted for my death and my wife’s death, ‘May you be in the cemetery already next year.’ Until now, none of the opposition leaders has seen fit to condemn these grave chants and to join us in calming tensions within the nation.”

In recent months, the same group of activists again began demanding his ouster, this time over his management of the war against Hamas.

Baharav-Miara has repeatedly clashed with Netanyahu, with reports suggesting that she may demand that the premier dismiss National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over accusations of abuse of power.

Ben-Gvir, who has called for the attorney general’s firing due to her opposition to his policies, denounced the prayer that called for her death, telling Israel’s Army Radio on Thursday that “we have disagreements, but if, oy vavoy [‘woe is me’], a hair of hers falls to the ground, I will be the first to take care of the matter.”