Dozens of prominent rabbis in the religious Zionist and Orthodox community are protesting the Public Security Minister’s reported intention to outlaw the extremist Jewish Lehava group.
The list of rabbis includes Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, as well as Shlomo Aviner, Shmuel Eliyahu, and Meir Mazuz, among other leading spiritual leaders.
“Opposition to assimilation is not racism. The organization must be allowed to continue its important activities,” the rabbis write in public letter.
Lehava opposes intermarriage of Jews and non-Jews, as well as LGBT rights, and tries to stifle any public activity by non-Jews in Israel, including coexistence events.
In June, the head of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee urged Defense Minister Benny Gantz to designate Lehava as a terror organization.
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