Middle East Monitor / May 17, 2022
The leader of Israeli extremist group Lehava has called for illegal settlers taking part in the annual so-called “flag march” later this month to mark the occupation of East Jerusalem by demolishing the Dome of the Rock, Safa reported on Tuesday. The march is due to take place on 28 May.
Bentzi Gopstein posted a meme on social media showing the Dome of the Rock, one of the two major prayer places within the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, beside a bulldozer. “We will come to demolish the Dome of the Rock,” was the caption.
The extremist student of the late extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane, is an activist with the extremist Kach organization, which is designated as a terrorist group. He was accused in 1990 of killing two Palestinians from Al-Laban al-Sharqiyeh just one day after Kahane was assassinated. Gopstein was detained for two weeks and then released due to a lack of evidence.
In 2021, the flag march triggered an 11-day Israeli offensive on Gaza which started after the Palestinian resistance launched a number of homemade rockets towards Israel in response to the violations committed by the participants in the march.
