Smotrich rejects US envoy’s condemnation of racist rabbis

Union of Right-Wing Parties MK Bezalel Smotrich says he found US peace envoy Jason Greenblatt’s rebuke of racist remarks by rabbis at a West Bank pre-military academy “deeply disappointing.”

In a series of Twitter posts, Smotrich claims footage aired by Israeli television of the Bnei David Yeshiva rabbis was “taken out of context by small-minded journalists” and “that there isn’t even the slightest mention of racism” in their remarks.

“I regret that you unintentionally aligned yourself with those who wish to harm this great institution,” Smotrich writes of Greenblatt.

In the recordings aired by Channel 13 news, Rabbi Eliezer Kashtiel, the head of Bnei David, says “we believe in racism,” and calls for the enslavement of non-Jews because they are genetically inferior.

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Dear Jason,
Your recent tweet and aligning with the false campaign against the Eli Mechina was deeply disappointing to me. Since I sincerely greatly respect you, I am confident that if you would have heard the entire lesson
<<< https://t.co/S0eItO6o5s

— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) May 2, 2019