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by i24 News
Far right Israeli politicians Itamar Ben Gvir (l) and Bezalel Smotrich (r) are seen at a Knesset session. Photo: Reuters/Abir Sultan
i24 News – Over 330 senior American rabbis are vowing to ban members of the far-right Religious Zionism bloc in Benjamin Netanyahu’s incoming government from appearing at their synagogues, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported Friday.
Following a convincing victory to the right-wing bloc in November’s general election, Netanyahu brought in members of a far-right faction and promised an expanded national security ministry to firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has a long history of using incendiary rhetoric against Arabs. The incoming government, which Netanyahu announced he formed late Wednesday, is expected to be the most right-wing in Israel’s history.
Ben-Gvir’s post as national security minister will include responsibility for Israel’s police, which includes the border guard who, along with the Israeli army, operate inside the West Bank.
An open letter from rabbis and other Jewish community leaders in the U.S. charges that the policies of Ben-Gvir and his associates “will cause irreparable harm to the Israel-Jewish Diaspora relationship.” The signatories say they will not invite members of the bloc “to speak at our congregations and organizations. We will speak out against their participation in other forums across our communities. We will encourage the boards of our congregations and organizations to join us in this protest as a demonstration of our commitment to our Jewish and democratic values.”
The signatories include members of the boards of rabbis in Chicago and Los Angeles; rabbis in charge of the largest Conservative and Reform congregations in the Washington, D.C. and the leader of the Reconstructionist movement; and the rector of the Conservative movement’s Los Angeles-based American Jewish University. However, not a single Orthodox rabbi signed the document. According to the JTA, the letter was organized by David Teutsch, a leading Reconstructionist rabbi in Philadelphia, and John Rosove, the rabbi emeritus of Temple Israel in Los Angeles.
