Anti-war activists storm offices of Israeli finance minister's party

Far-left activists occupied the entrance to the Religious Zionism Party’s headquarters in the town of Shoham in central Israel on Wednesday morning, leaving before police arrived at the scene.

Officers from the Central District, including personnel from the Rosh HaAyin Police Station, arrived at the building after receiving a report via emergency hotline, according to the Israel Police.

“The demonstration involved a small number of protesters, who painted their hands red and photographed themselves at the entrance to the party’s offices. The circumstances of the incident are under investigation,” the statement read.

“The Israel Police will not allow incitement, violence, or any violation of the law under the guise of protest,” it added.

The Religious Zionism Party is led by Bezalel Smotrich, who also serves as Israel’s finance minister.

Footage documenting the incident showed the activists attempting to enter the offices of the party, chanting the slogan, “Arabs want to live,” and smearing red paint on the offices’ doors.

פעילי תנועת עומדים ביחד, מתבצרים כעת במטה הציונות הדתית בשוהם. לטענת המפלגה, עובדיה נצורים במקום והונחו לא לצאת ממשרדיהם. משטרה במקום@amit_segal pic.twitter.com/TU87eNhfBO

The Religious Zionism Party was cited as saying that the intruders tried to break into the offices, “besieging” its staff members, according to Israel’s Channel 12 broadcaster.

The activists are members of Standing Together, an Israeli left-wing organization that opposed the war in Gaza in the aftermath of the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Explaining its motivation on Facebook, the group said that Smotrich’s policy in Judea and Samaria is “dispossessing” Palestinians from their land and homes, and backing “settler terrorism” against Palestinians.

“We will not stop fighting until the [Jewish] farms are dismantled and the terrorism comes to an end. Until there will be Israeli-Palestinian peace,” the group added.

It was referring to farms in Judea and Samaria, established by Israeli Jews at a greater pace in recent years. There are more than 100 such farms in Judea and Samaria, spanning over 170,000 acres, according to an Israeli association of farms, named Igud HaChavot in Hebrew.

About 15 of these were formed since the war broke out, according to the association.

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