Since the destruction of Solomon’s Temple In Jerusalem, Jews have been commemorating the auster Ninth of Av as a somber day of mourning however a left-wing group that was funded by the Obama administration has appropriated the Jewish day for political purposes, trying once again to remove Netanyahu from office.
Darkenu (our way) called for a gathering on the eve of Tisha B’Av, the somber day commemorating the destruction of the Jewish Temples.
“A Tisha B’Av on morality, extremism, and corruption. This Wednesday, at 8:00 PM, on Balfour Street near the Prime Minister’s residence. We will read the Book of Lamentations with Eshkol Nevo ( a writer and the grandson of Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol), Rabbis Benii Lau and Yossi Froman, Rebbetzin Deborah Evron, Brigadier General (reserve) Amir Hashakel, Rabbi Noa Setat, and Prof. Ruhama Weiss”
On the eve of Tisha B’Av, at 8:00 PM, we will gather in front of the Prime Minister’s House to read the Book of Lamentations, for talks on destruction, extremism, free hatred, looting, corruption and everything in between.
“A few days after a protester was stabbed, another protester was sprayed with tear gas, and another protester was beaten by ‘la familia’ [i.e. Israeli police, Mafia] gangs, we will appear at Balfour Street again to say out loud, the Temple was destroyed because of extremists, because of corruption and sabotage, because of free hatred.”
“We must not let our beloved home/Temple collapse for the third time.”
Darkenu is part of the One Voice organization who solicits donations on their behalf. Darkenu and even has a page on One Voice’s website. One Voice is the “legal-organizational channel” for Victory 2015 (V15), a campaign that worked unsuccessfully to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the 2015 elections. In 2013, Obama’s State Department provided OneVoice Israel and OneVoice Palestine with two grants equaling $349,276.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: The Hebrew word for the Temple (בית המקדש bet Hamikdash) literally means ‘the house that is sanctified’. As such, the First Temple built by King Solomon is referred to as bayit rishon (the first house), the Second Temple built after the Babylonian exile is referred to as bayit sheni (the second house), the prophesied Third Temple is referred to as bayit shlishi (the third house, and the Temple Mount is referred to as Har HaBayit (the mountain of the house).
“Because Judaism does not belong to them, Judaism belongs to all of us and we will not abandon it and the public space to corruption and extremism,” the announcement from Darkenu concluded.
Popular libertarian politician Moshe Feiglin weighed in explaining that for secular Israeli leftists, the mere fact that the Jews control Israel is to them, a type of ‘Temple’ saying: “The idea that the current manifestation of the Jewish state is the Third Temple is not new in left-wing secular Zionism. In the difficult 1973 Yom Kippur War, Moshe Dayan said that he feared for the fall of the Third Temple.”
“Perhaps some of the secular Zionists, though not all, have dispensed with the idea of an actual Temple in Jerusalem. The term ‘Temple’ is used as an expression in the left-wing to refer to Israeli sovereignty.”
“What is more disturbing to me is that on the Ninth of Av, they have usurped the day commemorating the destruction of the Temples for political purposes. They are using this powerfully Jewish day against Netanyahu like some sort of political tool.”
In 2016, the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report detailing the use of resources developed with State Department funding to advance the “V-15” political campaign against Netanyahu. The report sharply criticized the State Department for insufficient oversight in granting money to an organization that was involved in political activism in the Israeli election.
In addition to the US State Department funding, One Voice and V15 hired several former Obama campaign staffers, most notably Jeremy Bird, who served as national field director for Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.
