Man who walked into Yom Kippur prayers, eating ice cream could face jail

Right-wing activists filed a complaint with the police this morning (Sunday) against a man who was recorded eating an ice cream in Gan Meir in Tel Aviv during the Yom Kippur prayer, as reported by Chizki Baruch on Channel 7.

The complaint was filed by right-wing activists, who stated that "this constitutes a serious offense against the Penal Code Section 171, which is called interference with worship [A/147] [5566] (Amendment No. 12) 557-1980.,

According to the law, "anyone who willfully interferes with an assembly of people lawfully gathered for religious worship, or who willfully attacks a person performing a role in said assembly or one of its attendants, and does not have the power to prove justification or legal justice, shall be sentenced to three years in prison."

Attorney Mordechai Wasertail, who initiated the complaint, said: "Like many others, it pained me to see the footage of the blatant disrespect on Yom Kippur and the harm to worshipers. The prayer took place in accordance with the instructions of the High Court, and there was no reason to prevent it from taking place."

Last week, the High Court ruling allowed 'Rosh Yehudi' to hold a prayer separated by a partition in Gan Meir, however the organization cancelled the public prayer and decided to host it at a shul (Bar Kochba 54) and not at the park, because they were worried that they would be disturbed and heckled by people which were opposed to it.

Yisrael Zaira, charmain of Rosh Yehudi said the following: "In a time of war, when our soldiers risk themselves in heroic battles, and while the entire nation prays for the safe return of our hostages, the way to defeat and defeat the enemy, as well as the return of our hostages, is by adding holiness, unity, and inner peace. Unfortunately, we heard of plans to disturb the Yom Kippur prayers in Gan Meir, we chose to be responsible and [to] pray on Yom Kippur inside the synagogue."