Brooklyn fundraiser with Ben Gvir canceled days before far-right minister’s US trip
Webpages advertising benefit for Chabad of Hebron taken down after report on Ben Gvir’s scheduled appearance; organizers cite ‘unforeseen changes in the minister’s schedule’
JTA — A fundraiser with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to be held at Brooklyn’s Jewish Children’s Museum was abruptly canceled Friday, shortly after being announced.
The event featuring the far-right Israeli politician was to be hosted by Beis Shmuel Chabad, a Crown Heights synagogue, as a benefit for Chabad of Hebron, in the West Bank. Following a Jewish Telegraphic Agency report about the fundraiser, webpages advertising the event were taken down and prospective attendees were told it had been canceled.
An organizer told Haaretz the cancellation was due to “unforeseen changes in the minister’s schedule.”
Beis Shmuel Chabad, which follows Chabad practices but is not formally affiliated with the global Chabad-Lubavitch movement based in Crown Heights, and Chabad of Hebron, which is, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the cancellation.
A spokesperson for Chabad-Lubavitch said they were unaware of any other meetings scheduled between Ben Gvir and Chabad officials during his trip.
The event had been one of only a few publicly announced stops less than a week out from Ben Gvir’s first stateside visit as a minister. Shabtai, a Jewish society at Yale University, also plans to host multiple events with him: near Yale’s campus in New Haven, Connecticut; on New York’s Upper East Side; and a third potentially in Washington, according to Shabtai’s director, Rabbi Shmully Hecht.
Ben Gvir’s itinerary is being closely scrutinized as he is the standard-bearer for Israel’s far right. An admirer of Meir Kahane, the late Jewish extremist, who has himself been convicted of providing support to a terror organization, Ben Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit party have called for the expulsion of “disloyal” Palestinians, the annexation of the West Bank and Jewish resettlement of Gaza.
His installation in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition in late 2022 spurred consternation among American Jewish groups and caused the Biden administration to consider a formal ban on his travel to the United States.
Now, as Ben Gvir’s office says he plans to stop in the New York area, Washington and Miami, several large American Jewish groups have told JTA they have no intention of meeting with him.
But at least one other, private event between the minister and American Jewish figures is also being planned, according to Jewish PR executive Ross Glick, who plans to attend one of the events but is not organizing it. Glick, who was until recently affiliated with the right-wing pro-Israel group Betar US, declined to provide more information.
An organizer for UnXeptable, an Israeli protest movement organizing against Ben Gvir’s visit, said in a statement he was “deeply gratified” to hear the event had been canceled.
“Our coalition against Ben Gvir and Kahanism grows day by day,” Offir Gutelzon said. “Itamar Ben Gvir does not represent Judaism, Israel, or our community. He is beyond the pale.” A statement opposing the visit circulated by Gutelzon has been signed by several liberal Jewish groups as well as advocates for Israeli hostage families.
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