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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: October 15, 2005 |
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A senior Israeli army officer who played a key role in Israel's Gaza pullout was cursed and shoved by an angry mob while trying to pray at Judaism's holiest shrine, police said Saturday.
The officer, Maj. Gen. Elazar Stern, and members of his family were trying to enter the prayer area of the Western Wall for Sabbath prayers Friday evening when they were blocked by some 100 worshippers, said police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld. The crowd pushed Stern and threw several stones.
Police eventually formed a buffer around Stern and escorted him out of the area without injury. The Western Wall plaza was packed with about 5,000 worshippers at the time of the incident, which came a day after Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. The Wall is a remnant of the biblical Jewish Temple.
Stern, an observant Jew and head of the military's manpower branch, has been heckled and cursed in the past by ultranationalist Israelis who were upset over his role in Israel's pullout from Gaza last month.
The army chief, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, condemned the attack on Stern. |
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