From the Liveblog of
Monday, July 7, 2025
Israel bans anti-Zionist rabbi after he meets with Iran’s FM Araghchi in Brazil
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel has permanently barred Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a leader of the fringe anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox sect Neturei Karta, after Weiss met with Iran’s foreign minister in Brazil yesterday.
“I will not allow someone who acts against the State of Israel and identifies with its enemies to enter it,” Arbel says in a statement announcing the decision.
Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a prominent anti-Zionist figure, met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil, reaffirming solidarity with the Iranian people amid recent tensions. pic.twitter.com/gGgRTvlWKI
— Mehr News Agency (@MehrnewsCom) July 7, 2025
Weiss, a 69-year-old resident of New York, met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a summit of the BRICS group in Sao Paulo, where leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa delivered harsh criticism of recent Israeli and American strikes in Iran.
According to an Iranian Foreign Ministry readout, “Rabbi Weiss strongly condemned the Zionist regime’s military aggression against Iran” and “reaffirmed anti-Zionist Jews’ support for and solidarity with the people and government of Iran.”
Neturei Karta, estimated at around 100 core members, has long opposed the existence of the State of Israel on religious grounds and frequently engages with anti-Zionist groups. Members of the group have been heartily welcomed to Tehran by Iran’s regime and used as cover against claims of antisemitism.
The Times of Israel Community.