Brutal Ambush: Gur Hasidim beat up MK Porush’s son; kidnap his grandson

A chilling scene unfolded in the heart of Jerusalem last night as Moshe Porush, the CEO of Hamevaser newspaper and son of Housing Minister Meir Porush, was viciously attacked in the stairwell of his father’s apartment building.

The ordeal began Sunday evening in the narrow, dimly lit stairwell of the minister’s residence, a stone’s throw from Jerusalem’s bustling core. Moshe Porush, a prominent figure in the Haredi media world, was ambushed by a group of assailants—believed to be neighbors—who lay in wait. The attackers tore at his jacket, yanked his beard, and, in a heart-stopping moment, seized the stroller carrying his infant son. For ten agonizing minutes, the child was in the hands of the assailants, while Porush fought to fend off the blows raining down on him.

Alerted by the commotion, a Magen unit security guard stationed outside the minister’s home charged into the fray, wresting the baby from the attackers’ grasp and shielding Porush from further harm. Even then, the assailants turned their fury on the guard, surrounding him in a tense standoff before finally retreating into the night. "If that guard hadn’t been there, I don’t want to think where I’d be right now. He saved my life—and my son’s", Porush said.

As he walked out of the hospital, Porush wrote, "To all my worried friends I couldn’t answer tonight. I’m leaving the hospital now. Thank God, my life and my baby’s life were spared, thanks to the guard’s quick thinking. I escaped with only bruises, and my son was pulled from those thugs’ hands after ten minutes. I don’t even want to imagine what would’ve happened if those attackers had succeeded in their full plan."

But Porush’s message wasn’t just one of relief—it was a defiant rallying cry. "To the hundreds who messaged me, the thousands who asked, and the hundreds of thousands worried—not just for me, but for what these inciters are capable of—I say thank you," he wrote. "And to those stoking this violence: every river has its course. This isn’t easy, it’s not a slur—it’s our right to exist. No amount of brutality will scare us off."

Police descended on the scene shortly after, combing the stairwell for evidence and pulling footage from nearby security cameras. An investigation is now underway, while the Prime Minister’s Office security team has launched its own probe into how such an attack could unfold so close to a minister’s home. The guard’s bravery has been hailed as the thin line between tragedy and survival, though questions linger about the attackers’ motives—and their audacity.

The roots of this violence, sources say, stretch deep into the fractured world of Agudat Yisrael, the ultra-Orthodox political alliance now teetering on the edge of collapse. At the heart of the feud: a bitter rift between Minister Meir Porush’s Shlomi Emunim faction and the powerful Gur Hasidic community. Porush’s reported intent to back a controversial budget—defying the Gur Rebbe’s stance—has fanned the flames of a long-simmering power struggle. While Gur leaders, via journalist Amit Segal, insist this was a "neighborly dispute" unrelated to their ranks, the timing and ferocity of the attack suggest otherwise.

The incident has sent ripples far beyond Jerusalem’s Haredi enclaves. Opposition leader Yair Lapid wasted no time condemning the assault, posting on X at dawn: "I sharply denounce the attack on Moshe Porush, son of Minister Meir Porush. The police must hunt down those responsible and ensure justice is served with unrelenting severity." His words echo a growing chorus demanding accountability as the nation grapples with this brazen act.

For now, Moshe Porush stands as both victim and symbol—his body bruised, his spirit unbowed. "It’s not easy," he wrote, "but violence won’t silence us."