Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman joined supporters of Café Basimta as extremist haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protesters demonstrated outside over its decision to remain open on Shabbat for the fifth consecutive Saturday.
Several protesters began banging on the café’s windows, according to i24NEWS reporter Li Ayish. Customers inside responded by shouting, “Enlist, enlist.”
One customer described the disturbance, saying, “The noise sounded like a herd. Confrontations began at the scene.”
Some protesters broke through police barriers and attempted to approach the café’s entrance. Haredi protesters were reportedly seen climbing fences and trying to cross the barriers, while customers and local residents who had gathered to support the café attempted to prevent them from getting closer.
Saturday’s demonstration marked the fifth consecutive week of protests outside the café. The protests began after the owners decided to open the business on Shabbat, leading to repeated confrontations in recent weeks between protesters and the café’s supporters.
A bag containing feces was thrown at the café during the previous week’s protest. On earlier Saturdays, hundreds of people gathered outside the business to support the owners and their decision to remain open on Shabbat.
Politicians support the cafe, counterprotesters
Liberman attended the demonstration to express support for the cafe and condemned the protesters.
“I believe above all in the principle of live and let live. Drinking coffee on a Saturday morning cannot become an act of civic courage,” Liberman said.
Referring to the protesters, he added, “The vandalism we see behind me only proves that these guys need to direct their energy against Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, but not here in Jerusalem against peaceful citizens.”
Liberman then said the protesters would be required to serve in the military if his party came to power.
“When we come to power, they will not have time to demonstrate here. Everyone will be running through basic training!”
Democrats Party chairman Yair Golan said party activists had “used their bodies” to protect customers at the café.
“This is another week in which an extremist haredi group is trying to intimidate a café in Jerusalem simply because it is open on Shabbat. They are not fighting a café. They are fighting for the right to decide for all of us how to live. They are fighting against our way of observing Shabbat pleasantly and in good company.”
Golan also accused police of failing to protect the public.
“The police are once again abandoning the liberal public. Instead of preventing the violence in advance and firmly enforcing the law, they are allowing extremists to run wild.”
Café owner addresses protests, emphasizes respect for religious community
Café owner Yoel Ben David discussed the controversy in an interview with Maariv in early July.
“I love and respect the religious community and absolutely do not hate haredim,” Ben David said.
He stressed that both communities should be able to observe Shabbat as they choose.
“I want them to be able to pray in peace, for us to be able to drink our coffee in peace, and for all of us to succeed in living here together in harmony.”
Ben David added, “If it can happen in Tel Aviv or Haifa, why not in Jerusalem?”
Ben David also described the support the café had received from members of Jerusalem’s religious community.
“Last Saturday, a group of kippah-wearing residents from the Baka neighborhood in southern Jerusalem walked here. They informed me in advance that they were coming, so I prepared a pitcher of cold water for them outside,” he said.
Ben David said support continued throughout the week.
“Throughout the week, many religious people came here to show their support, and one of them even approached me and apologized on behalf of the haredi community.”
He added, “Many kippah-wearing people came and told us, ‘We are with you. These protesters do not represent us.’”
Ben David concluded by pointing to the support the café had received from Jerusalem’s secular and liberal communities.
“They are, of course, joined by the city’s entire secular liberal community, which is fighting for our right to run the business as we choose, without pressure and without fear.”