Chief rabbi of Iran says Israeli government ‘doesn’t care about Judaism,’ hails Soleimani

The chief rabbi of Iran’s Jewish community charges that Israel’s government “doesn’t care about Judaism at all” and hails Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed earlier this year in a US drone strike, as a national hero.

In a Hebrew interview with Al-Monitor published today and broadcast on Israel’s Channel 12, Rabbi Yehuda Garami denies any connection between Judaism and Zionism.

“People tend to get confused, but there is a big difference between Zionism and Judaism. Judaism is a religion that is 3,300 years old, while Zionism is a national and political movement that is just 100 years old. As a country, the State of Israel has nothing to do with religion in general and Judaism in particular,” he says.

Garami denies that the conflict between Iran and Israel is a religious one and takes a shot at the Israeli government.

“The Israeli government doesn’t care about Judaism at all. Everything that they supposedly give to the Orthodox is because of some political deal or other, and not because of their religious approach,” he says.

He also defends making a condolence call to the family of Soleimani, who headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force.

“What the Western world does not fully understand is that Soleimani is an Iranian national hero. He is really admired in our country. He showed great bravery in the Iran-Iraq War. Then, in the war in Syria, it was Soleimani who defeated the Islamic State, and this was very important to the people of Iran,” Garami says.