Jerusalem Arabs attack their Jewish neighbors on Yom Kippur

“Every Yom Kippur, it gets worse,” said one Jerusalem resident who endured another holiday marked by antisemitic violence.

By World Israel News Staff

Youth from an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem attacked their Jewish neighbors on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, hurling stones and vandalizing Israeli flags.

According to local media reports, police responded to the attacks by deploying checkpoints throughout the area, but the measures failed to stop the violence that targeted Jewish residents returning from synagogue.

Jews living near Beit Safafa, an Arab neighborhood in southern Jerusalem, described what they called a recurring pattern of violence that intensifies every year during the holiday.

“We live next to Beit Safafa. Every Yom Kippur, we go through a nightmare — Arabs throwing stones at Jews in the area. Every year it gets worse. This time, they came all the way up to the houses, threw stones at apartments, smashed windows, and cursed at us,” said Pini Shamla, a resident of the nearby Pat neighborhood, in an interview with Channel 12 News.

“When I returned from synagogue on Yom Kippur Eve, I heard shouting. Groups of boys from Beit Safafa were waiting for us with stones and started throwing them. We called the police, and they set up a checkpoint in the neighborhood. The stone-throwing continued until the early hours of the morning on Yom Kippur,” he said.

“At my neighbor’s house, they tore down the Israeli flag from the balcony and spat on it. They desecrated the flag and threw stones at residents and homes — and it went on until about half an hour before the end of the fast,” Shamla added.

In October 2024, seven residents of the area were arrested for allegedly participating in an Iranian plot to assassinate an Israeli nuclear scientist, according to Shin Bet security officials.

Rami Alian, who was named as the main suspect in the case, reportedly admitted during questioning that he was aware that he was acting on behalf of the Islamic Republic.