“The protesters on the other side,” Rabbi Shmuley Boteach told JNS, “have forgotten who the real enemy is. Bibi is a hero, and Iran is the villain. I hope the protesters across the street know that.”

About 150 people gathered across from the Manhattan hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was staying for a “Stand with Israel” rally on Thursday evening.

The group, which stood on the southeast corner of Park Avenue and 61st Street from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., was across the street from a group that was at least as large which rallied against the Israeli government and its judicial reform.

Among those who addressed the “Stand with Israel” group were Harvard Law School emeritus professor and longtime attorney Alan Dershowitz; activist and former New York State legislator Dov Hikind; and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, also an author and television host.

“This is really about unity and love of Israel,” Hillary Barr, an organizer of the rally, told JNS ahead of the gathering. “Politics doesn’t matter.”

Dershowitz told the crowd that although he does not support judicial reform, he was there “to defend what may be the most democratic nation on Earth.”

He noted that the other group was protesting the Israeli government, but not Iran, whose president also spoke at the United Nations General Assembly. He also criticized the other group for attempting to drown out the unity rally, and for not accepting the democratic results of Netanyahu’s election.
Boteach also noted that the other group wasn’t protesting Hamas, Hezbollah or Islamic Jihad.

“How did we come to a time when Jews in America, on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, will protest the state of Israel?” he asked.”

Even for those who opposed Israeli judicial reform, there are much graver issues facing the Jewish state, according to Hikind.

“Iran is the number on threat to Israel,” he said. “Bibi has let the rest of the world understand the dangers of a nuclear Iran.”

Hikind dismissed the claim that Netanyahu is anti-democracy. “There was an election, and Benjamin Netanyahu put together a coalition of 64 seats,” he said. “That’s what democracy is all about.”

The unity rally was intended to make clear that “we stand with Israel if there is a left-wing government and we stand with Israel if there is a right-wing government,” Phillip Yurchenko, founder of the Zionist youth group ClubZ, told the crowd, to loud applause.

“I think the most important thing here is unity,” Yurchenko told JNS. “We see a lot of differences in the Jewish community, but let’s not amplify them. Let’s stand together.”

“With all the disagreements we have, there are lines we cannot cross,” Dan Seaman, a member of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, said from the podium. “Some people are trying to cross those lines.”

Joe Zevuloni, an Israeli American, came to the rally from Florida with a group of fellow pro-Israel activists. Hearing those who are protesting the Israeli government on the news angered the group, he told JNS.
“We heard a protest leader on 60 Minutes say that Israeli pilots are child murderers, and no other other protest leaders spoke out against him,” he said. “It’s important for me to support the only Jewish state, the only democracy in the Middle East.”

“These people are spreading lies, not only about Bibi but about Israel. Why don’t they protest the Palestinians, who have no democracy and no rights?” Zevuloni addd. “If Bibi was a dictator like they say, they wouldn’t be able to protest like this. We want people to know that, so we came here and we’re going to the U.N. tomorrow.”

Sarri Singer, who survived a terrorist attack in Israel in 2003 and who is founder of the nonprofit Strength to Strength, told attendees that the Israeli government prevents more attacks, like the one she experienced, from happening.

Throughout the unity rally, during which the band Pey Dalid performed, multiple protestors from group denouncing the Israeli government, sought to disrupt the rally, yelling, blowing whistles or confronting those who were rallying.

“We are grateful for the cosponsors and speakers, but most importantly to those that stood up to the horrific words thrown at them today,” Barr told JNS.

“The protesters on the other side,” Boteach told JNS, “have forgotten who the real enemy is. Bibi is a hero, and Iran is the villain. I hope the protesters across the street know that.”

The rallies took place hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was slated to address the U.N. General Assembly. There have been protests and signage in the city both for and against Netanyahu throughout the week.

Video circulated on social media of Netanyahu greeting some of those who were rallying—it wasn’t clear where and when—and telling them that it is important to stand with Israel and for democracy.

Click here to read the full article at JNS