BOYCOTT ZIONIST FASCISTS

Coalition for Jewish Values criticize letter signed by 330 rabbis pledging to boycott Religious Zionism members

CJV representing over 2,000 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in American public policy, said the letter had "unrestrained hypocrisy."

Otzma Yehudit Party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion at the Knesset, on Nov. 22, 2022. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90.
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(December 26, 2022 / JNS) The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) criticized a letter signed last week by an estimated 330 non-Orthodox rabbis pledging to bar members of Israel’s Religious Zionism Party from speaking at their synagogues.

“Their call reveals the unrestrained hypocrisy of these non-Orthodox (and anti-Orthodox movements,” said CJV President Rabbi Yoek Schonfield. “The same people who virtue-signal their ‘tolerance’ demonstrate that they are the least tolerant of all. Anyone who speaks outside their ideological echo chamber must be canceled, censored, and banned.”

CJV also criticized the pledge for claiming that the policies of RZP leader Bezalel Smotrich and Otzma Yehudit Party Chairman Itamar Ben Gvir “will cause irreparable harm to the Israel-Jewish Diaspora relationship.”

“Israel has not, contrary to their claims, disenfranchised them,” the CJV statement reads in reference to the signatories. “Rather, it is they who seek to disenfranchise Israel.”

The rabbinic policy group criticized the Reform Jewish leaders for meeting with noted antisemites such as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and defending Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who has a history of antisemitism, in a recent letter.

CJV also noted the added hypocrisy of non-Orthodox rabbis making no such calls to ban former Arab-Israeli Member of Knesset Hanin Zoabi or the United Arab List party after she called for the dissolution of Israel.

“Their frantic call to reject duly-elected Members of Knesset reflects their alienation from both the Israeli electorate and the mainstream American pro-Israel community,” added CJV Midwestern Regional Vice President Rabbi Ze’ev Smason. “These rabbis not only grant undue credulity to antisemitic double standards at a time of increasing double standards at a time of increasing antisemitism, but further, during the holiday of Chanukah, align themselves with the Hellenists who sought to muzzle authentic Jewish voices.”

“One thing is certain,” Smason concluded, “hundreds of authentic Jewish congregations will welcome these and other Members of Knesset with open arms.”

CJV is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that represents over 2,000 traditional, Orthodox rabbis as the largest rabbinic public policy organization in America. CJV promotes religious liberty, human rights, and classical Jewish ideas in American public policy.

+300 US rabbis sign petition to boycott far-right members of incoming Israeli government

File photo

WASHINGTON, Sunday, December 25, 2022 (WAFA) – More than 330 rabbis in the US have signed an open letter to ban far-right members of the incoming Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, from speaking to their synagogues and communities.

The letter states that the rabbis will boycott members from the Religious Zionist bloc of the incoming government, which includes far-right MKs Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

"We will speak out against their participation in other fora across our communities," says the letter.

"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 letter was signed by a range of Jewish religious leaders from Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements, including some who lead major communities in Washington, Los Angeles, and Chicago. However, it does not include any signatories from the Orthodox movement.

It was organized by David Teutsch, a leading Reconstructionist rabbi in Philadelphia, and John Rosove, the rabbi emeritus of Temple Israel in Los Angeles.

According to Israeli news reports, the letter’s uncompromising tone and the breadth of the signatories is a signal of a burgeoning crisis in relations between Israel and the US Jewish community triggered by the elevation of the far-right parties.

Netanyahu's bloc won the October elections thanks to an alliance with far-right religious Zionist parties.

The parties' leaders have secured positions in a future government that may help them push through policies such as annexing large swaths of the occupied West Bank, expanding illegal settlements, and allowing Jewish prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque.

After the Israeli aggression on Gaza in May 2021, 25 percent of American Jewish voters said Israel was an apartheid state, in a poll conducted by the Jewish Electorate Institute. Another 38 percent of voters said Israel's treatment of Palestinians was similar to general racism in the US.

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