Delegates to Hadassah’s annual convention in Israel got a first-hand glimpse of current tensions on the Israeli political scene this week when a key conference event was disrupted by right-wing protesters.
The conference’s 2,000 delegates and guests were assembled at the Binyanei Ha’uma convention center in the capital Sunday night to honor Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres with Hadassah’s Henrietta Szold Award, Hadassah’s highest honor.
But the premier’s speech was marred by heckling, as was that of U.S Ambassador Martin Indyk.
The protesters included settlers from Gush Etzion, led by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat, and members of the Women in Green Israeli nationalist movement. Some of them lay across the plaza outside the hall, while others dodged security guards to take up seats in the audience. Several of the hecklers were ousted bodily by security men.
Riskin said such protests were planned for all future public events where the prime minister appears.
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