Religion

Extremists boast they cursed Sharon

By Yaakov Katz
The Jerusalem Post
January 3, 2006

Far-right activists took credit Thursday for the severe deterioration in Ariel Sharon's health, claiming that a pulsa denura - Aramaic for "lashes of fire" - death curse they instigated against the prime minister in July was the real catalyst behind his current state of health.

"I take full responsibility for what happened," far-right activist Baruch Ben-Yosef, one of the participants at the July pulsa denura, told The Jerusalem Post. "Our pulsa denura kicked in. Nothing could kill Sharon and he said his ancestors lived until they over 100 years old but we got him with the pulsa denura."

On Wednesday night, Ben-Yosef and additional far-right activists gathered in the Samaria settlement of Kfar Tapuah to honor Binyamin Kahane - son of Meir Kahane - and his wife Talya who were murdered by Palestinian terrorists exactly five years ago. Upon hearing the news of Sharon's stroke, Ben-Yosef said, the group broke out in song and dance and celebrated the prime minister's fall throughout the night.

On Thursday, the activists said it was not a coincidence that Sharon fell gravely ill the same day as Kahane's murder. "There is a judge in this world," Ben-Gvir said. "[Prime minister] Yitzhak Rabin was killed on the fifth anniversary of Meir Kahane's murder and Sharon fell ill on the anniversary of Binyamin Kahane's murder."

On Thursday, Ben-Gvir held a party at his Hebron home to celebrate the "annulment of evil decrees against the people of Israel."

Head of the National Jewish Front Baruch Marzel called on the public to stop crying for the prime minister. "I am not praying for him," Marzel, who is running for the Knesset, said. "Sharon uprooted graves and destroyed homes and I have no intention to pray for him."

"This man has caused a great deal of damage to the Israeli people over the past five years," far-right activist Noam Federman added. "It doesn't make a difference why it happened. What is important is that he will not be able to cause further damage."

Yosef Dayan - another participant in the pulsa denura ceremony - said that Thursday was a "great day" for the State of Israel since Sharon, whom he called an "evil man," was incapacitated and could no longer return to power. Dayan said that while he could not say for certain that the death curse caused the stroke, he was sure that Sharon's crime in evacuating the Gaza Strip settlements contributed to the deterioration in his health.

"This is a great day for Israel since that evil man is gone." Dayan said. "I am convinced that God heard the prayers of the children in Gush Katif. When those kids were thrown from their homes they prayed and God heard their prayers."