Chief rabbi defends remarks about ex-Soviet immigrants, says they were distorted

Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef reacts for the first time to the public outrage caused by his remarks against immigrants from the former Soviet Union, defending his statements and claiming his words were being “distorted” by politicians.

“I was clear and I say again: Alongside the majority of the welcome aliyah of hundreds of thousands of Jews from the former Soviet Union… there is a minority of immigrants who are not Jewish according to Jewish law who came due to the Law of Return,” Yosef says in a statement.

“During my visits over the last month to the blooming Jewish communities in Russia and Ukraine I was exposed to the strong criticism within those communities regarding the act of bringing many who aren’t Jewish to Israel.

“It is very unfortunate that there are some who feel offended from the way the remarks were presented while they were blatantly distorted by interested political figures who have been inciting for many months against Judaism and Jewish law.”