Yehuda Glick | |
---|---|
Date of birth | 20 November 1965 |
Place of birth | United States |
Year of aliyah | 1974 |
Knessets | 20 |
Faction represented in Knesset | |
2016–2019 | Likud |
Yehudah Joshua Glick (Hebrew : יְהוּדָה יְהוֹשֻׁעַ גְלִיק; born 20 November 1965) is an American-born Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician. He campaigns for expanding Jewish access to the Temple Mount. [1] [2] He is currently a member of the Knesset for Likud, having taken the place of former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon in May 2016.
Glick is the leader of HaLiba, a coalition of groups dedicated to "reaching complete and comprehensive freedom and civil rights for Jews on the Temple Mount". [3]
Glick was awarded the 2015 Moskowitz Prize for Zionism for being "Active for human rights and religious freedom on Jerusalem's Temple Mount". [4] [5] He also has been referred as a "right-wing" Israeli activist. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] On 29 October 2014, Glick survived an assassination attempt by Mutaz Hijazi, a member of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine.
Yehudah Glick was born on 20 November 1965 in the United States to American parents, Brenda and Shimon Glick. His father, a physician and professor specializing in endocrinology research and medical ethics, made aliyah with his family from the United States in 1974, and helped found Ben Gurion University's school of medicine. [12] [13]
Glick served in the IDF between 1986–1989, as part of the hesder yeshiva that he attended. Glick initially served in the Armored Corps, and later in the Intelligence Corps. He completed a combat medics course, and served as a combat medic and regional defence soldier during reserve duty. [14] Glick holds a Bachelor of Education in Bible Studies from Jerusalem College of Technology, and an MA in Jewish History from Touro College. He is also a licensed tour-guide for the Ministry of Tourism. [14]
In 1996, Glick began working in the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, filling several positions, including spokesperson for Minister Yuli Edelstein, director of the Public Diplomacy Department in the Ministry, Director of the Jewish Identity Unit, and Director of the Ashkelon and South Israel region. In 2005, after 10 years of work in the Ministry, Glick resigned in protest of the Gaza Disengagement Plan. [15]
After leaving his position in the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption, Glick took a greater leading role in the Temple Movement, becoming the executive director of the Temple Institute in 2005, which is a state-funded organization that supports the building of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount. [16] [17] [18] [19]
After leaving the Temple Institute in 2009, Glick founded a series of organizations that promote and popularize the Temple Movement through liberal discourse, including the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation in 2009, and The Liba Initiative for Jewish Freedom on the Temple Mount, and Human Rights on Temple Mount. [15]
Glick advocates opening the Temple Mount on an equal footing to prayer by Muslims, Jews, Christians, and others. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] He has been called "a symbol of the struggle for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount". [25] And has been described as representing the recent shift in the demand for Jewish prayer to be permitted on the Temple Mount on an equal footing with Muslim prayer from the fringe to the mainstream of Israeli society. [20] [26] Glick has spoken about his vision of a utopian Temple Mount. It would include a "House of prayer for all Nations", with the Dome of the Rock standing alongside a rebuilt Jewish sacrificial altar. [27] On March 26, 2018, two sacrificial lambs were slaughtered by priests near the Temple Mount in a ceremony attended by the subject, senior National Religious rabbis Dov Lior, Yisrael Ariel, and hundreds of citizens. [28] Haaretz journalist Nir Hasson credits Glick as having put the Israeli left on the defensive by "uncover(ing) the absurdity created at the Temple Mount" by a status quo that, by permitting Muslim prayer, while prohibiting Jewish prayer, "discriminates against people because of their religion". [29]
Glick has led groups of Jews to walk the Temple Mount, and has been repeatedly arrested while praying, walking, and filming videos on the Temple Mount. [30] [31]
On 10 October 2013, Glick began a hunger strike protesting a police ban forbidding him to ascend to the Temple Mount. After 12 days, the police relented, agreeing to permit him to enter the site on the same terms as other Jewish visitors, that is, only to visit, not to pray. [22] An Israeli court awarded damages to Glick for two wrongful arrests that took place as he attempted to film officials denying entry to the Temple Mount to Jews dressed in visibly religious clothing. [32]
Glick was arrested in August 2014 for allegedly pushing a member of the Muslim women's guard at the Temple Mount, and was charged in mid-October for causing the woman to fall and break her arm. Glick's attorney said that there "was no direct evidence that Glick had assaulted" the woman. A condition of Glick's release on bail was to ban him from entering the area during the legal proceedings. The Israeli police argued in the court in December, in relation to the appeal of the ban, that "allowing Glick on the site posed a threat to public order". [33] He sued in response to sue the Israeli police over his ban from the site, and was later awarded NIS 650,000 in damages and legal costs due to his ban. [34] Additionally, as part of its ruling, the court upheld that Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount is legal. [35]
On 4 June 2015, a Jerusalem district court banned Glick from entering Temple Mount, overturning a lower court decision. The judge ruled that Glick's presence was inflammatory, and that, "there is a risk of violence breaking out if the respondent returns to the compound before the end of legal proceedings in his case". [36] On 25 February 2016, the police dropped their charges against Glick. [37]
American political commentator Bernie Quigley has likened Glick to Gandhi, "earthy, wise, thoughtful, non-violent, and compassionate". [38] He [ who? ] has stated that the Muslim leadership's persistence in refusing to open up the Temple Mount to all monotheisms will bring about 'a very dangerous ... to a great threat to the world and to the peace of the world'. [39] Shany Littman, writing for Haaretz, describes him giving talks at a meeting in an Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood where Meir Kahane's poster features, together with activists like Hillel Weiss, head of Lishkat Hagazit, which is dedicated to appointing a king of Israel, wiping out the seed of Amalek, and building the Temple; and Einat Ziv and Yehudit Dasberg from the Women's Forum for the Temple. [40]
Now a member of the 20th Knesset, Glick is continuing his Temple Mount activism campaign, but has been barred from visiting the Temple Mount itself several times over the years due to the potentially incendiary nature of his activism campaigns. [41] [42]
On 29 October 2014, Glick gave a speech at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. According to eye-witness Shay Malka (Parliamentary Assistant of MK Moshe Feiglin), a man on a motorcycle who spoke with a "thick Arab accent" approached Glick as he loaded equipment into the back of his car after speaking at a conference, and asked if he was Yehudah Glick, before shooting him in the chest 4 times and speeding off. [23] [25] [43] [44]
Glick survived the assassination attempt, and was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center for treatment. [45] Glick later told a rabbi that the gunman had apologized before firing at him, saying: "I'm very sorry, but you're an enemy of Al-Aqsa, I have to." [46]
After having undergone several surgeries, and being heavily sedated, Glick began showing signs of improvement on 5 November. He began to recognize family members, and to be able to communicate "yes" or "no" with a nod of the head. [47] On 11 November, Glick was finally able to breathe on his own, as well as to speak. [48] One of the first people he spoke to after regaining the ability was Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, whom he called by phone, saying, "I know you fight for the right to speak, and for the last few days, I have been fighting to breathe - so, now, I'm breathing alone, and I want to share that with you." [49] He was eventually released from hospital on 24 November. [50]
Police traced the suspected assailant, Mutaz Hijazi, to the mixed Arab/Jewish neighborhood of Abu Tor. Israeli police said their attempts at arrest were met by gunfire, a claim Hijazi's family denies, [51] which resulted in Hijazi being shot and killed. [52] Following the shootout with police, riots and protests broke out in the Abu Tor neighborhood. [53] Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld stated that the raid of Hijazi's apartment that followed the shoot-out provided them with substantial evidence linking Hijazi to the shooting. [54] [55] Hijazi family's claimed the authorities had not provided them with the results of the investigation which links the suspect to the attempted assassination. [54]
According to Palestinian sources, [ who? ] Glick's lawyers asked for the entire home where Hijazi lived to be demolished. [54] Although originally stating Hijazi's home would be demolished, they later stated the home would not be destroyed, and only the portion of the home where Hijazi lived would be sealed off. [56]
Hijazi had been a member of Islamic Jihad and served 11 years in Israeli prisons for security offenses; [57] Islamic Jihad immediately published an obituary claiming him as a member. [58] The director of the Jerusalem branch of Fatah said, "We in Fatah are not ashamed to take responsibility for the heroic act he [Hijazi] carried out today." [59]
Right-wing activists immediately called for peaceful marches to the Temple Mount on the morning following the late evening assassination attempt. [60] Security officials immediately closed access to the Temple Mount. [61] Israel's Minister of the Economy, Naftali Bennett, said that the targeted assassination attempt crossed "a red line of blood", and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "restore the sovereignty of Israel and its capital". [62]
Speaking on behalf of Islamic Jihad the morning after the shooting, Daoud Shihab said that Glick "got what he deserved". [58] It was reported that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent a condolence letter to the family of the shooter after he was killed by the police. [6] [63] [64] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted by saying, "When we are trying to calm the situation, Abu Mazen sends condolences over the death of one who tried to perpetrate a reprehensible murder. The time has come for the international community to condemn him for such actions." Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said, "This shows that Abu Mazen is a partner, a partner for terror, a partner for terrorists, a partner for murders. This despicable letter by Abu Mazen openly supports terror and encourages further killings." [65]
Glick was placed thirty-third on the Likud list for the 2015 Knesset elections, [66] but the party won only 30 seats. However, after the resignation of two other Likud MKs, Glick became next-in-line for a seat in December 2015, and was attending Likud faction meetings. [41] [42] In May 2016, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon resigned from the Knesset, [67] resulting in Glick entering the Knesset; [68] he was officially sworn in on 25 May. [69]
Yehudah Glick was married to Yaffa (née Langental), the sister of Nahum Langental [70] and of rabbi Shmuel Tal, head of Yeshivat Torat HaChaim. She was a widow with two children from her previous marriage when he married her. Together they had four biological children and two foster children. [14] [71] [72] [73] In January 2016, his neighbor, Dafna Meir, was stabbed to death in her home in front of her four children. Yehudah Glick and his wife also became the legal guardians to the six children of Yitzhak and Tali Ames after they were murdered by terrorists in 2010. [74] His wife died on 1 January 2018. [75] On January 1, 2019, exactly a year after his wife's death, Glick announced his engagement to Hadas Disin. [76] Glick resides in the Israeli settlement of Otniel.
Likud, officially the Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. A secular party, it was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing parties. Likud's landslide victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had lost power. In addition, it was the first time in Israel that a right-wing party won the plurality of the votes. However, after ruling the country for most of the 1980s, the party lost the Knesset election in 1992. Nevertheless, Likud's candidate Benjamin Netanyahu did win the vote for Prime Minister in 1996 and was given the task of forming a government after the 1996 elections. Netanyahu's government fell apart after a vote of no confidence, which led to elections being called in 1999 and Likud losing power to the One Israel coalition led by Ehud Barak.
Zion Silvan Shalom is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1992 and 2015. He held several prominent ministerial positions, including being Vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. He resigned on 24 December 2015 following allegations of sexual harassment leveled by eleven women.
Shas is a Haredi religious political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until his death in October 2013, it primarily represents the interests of Haredi Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. The party works to end prejudice and discrimination against the Sephardic and Mizrahi community, and highlights economic issues and social justice.
Naomi Blumenthal is a former Israeli politician. First elected to the Knesset in 1992, her political career was ended by a conviction for corruption in 2006.
Elections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party, and the failure of his successor, Tzipi Livni, to form a coalition government. Had Olmert remained in office or had Livni formed a coalition government, the elections would have been scheduled for 2010 instead.
Tzipi Hotovely is an Israeli politician, who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for the Likud, and as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2015.
The Jewish Home is an Orthodox Jewish and religious Zionist political party in Israel. It was originally formed by a merger of the National Religious Party, Moledet, and Tkuma in November 2008. However, Moledet broke away from the party after its top representative was placed only 17th on the new party's list for the 2009 Knesset elections, and instead ran on a joint list with Hatikva. Tkuma later also left to join the National Union.
Moshe "Mossi" Raz is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Meretz between 2000 and 2003, and again from 2017 until 2019.
Ya'akov Yosef was an Israeli rabbi and former politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Shas between 1984 and 1988.
Price tag policy, also known as "Mutual Responsibility", is the name originally given to acts of vandalism by Jewish fundamentalist settler youths, aimed at the Palestinian population, Christians, left-wing Israeli Jews, Arab Israelis, and the Israeli security forces. The youths claim to "exact a price from local Palestinians or from the Israeli security forces for any action taken against their settlement enterprise" according to The New York Times. The acts also referred to as "tactic", "strategy", "doctrine", "campaign", or "principle". The term "price tag attack" now extends to acts of vandalism, and especially to acts of anti-Arab vandalism, suspected to be the work of lone individuals, against the Israeli army and security services, as well as against Christian and Muslim places of worship, and also against left-wing institutions that criticize settlers. In May 2014, Shin Bet said the price-tag hate crimes were the handiwork of about 100 individuals mainly hailing from the Yitzhar settlement and hilltop outposts, and were inspired by the ideas of rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh.
Otzma Yehudit is a far-right political party in Israel, which has been referred to as Kahanist and anti-Arab. It was originally formed as Otzma LeYisrael, and was established on 13 November 2012 by MKs Aryeh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari, who split from the National Union to form a new party ahead of the 2013 elections.
The 2014 Jerusalem unrest, sometimes referred as the Silent Intifada is a term occasionally used to refer to an increase in violence focused on Jerusalem in 2014, especially from July of that year. Although the name "silent intifada," appears to have been coined in the summer of 2014, suggestions that there should be or already is an incipient intifada have been circulated by activists, columnists, journalists and on social media since 2011. Commentators have pointed out the varying utility to the Palestinian and Israeli left, right, and center of not only of naming, but of asserting or denying that there is or is about to be a new intifada.
HALIBA is an Israeli umbrella organization that describes itself as working "to re-claim for Jews the basic civil rights of free access, free worship, and free congregation on the Temple Mount."
Kulanu is a centrist political party in Israel led by Moshe Kahlon that focused on economic and cost-of-living issues.
Yachad is an Orthodox Jewish political party in Israel formed by former Shas member Eli Yishai. The party combines certain groups of ultra-Orthodox Jews with some religious Zionists.
Yonatan Yosef, a prominent Jerusalem rabbi, is the spokesman for Jewish settlers in Sheikh Jarrah, and a prominent activist for the Judaization of East Jerusalem. In 2013, Yonatan ran for Jerusalem City Council. In 2018, he ran as a Yachad party representative in "Meuchadim" list in Jerusalem, and in the 2019 general elections, he was placed 3 in Yachad's list for the Knesset.
Zehut is a right-libertarian political party in Israel, founded in 2015 by Moshe Feiglin. Its platform is centered around promoting individual liberty, including economic freedom, and applying full Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank. The party also advocates for legalization of cannabis.
Snap legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the twenty-second Knesset. Following the previous elections in April, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition, the first such failure in Israeli history. On 30 May, the Knesset voted to dissolve itself and trigger new elections, in order to prevent Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz from being appointed Prime Minister-designate. This election marked the first time that the Knesset voted to dissolve itself before a government had been formed.
The New Right is a right-wing political party in Israel, established in December 2018 by justice minister Ayelet Shaked and education minister Naftali Bennett.
Katrin Shitrit-Peretz is an Israeli politician. She currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Likud.