Headlines
Israeli extremist leader calls on students to torch churches
Jerusalem, Aug 7
Benzi Gopstein, the
leader of extremist anti-assimilation group Lehava, said in a meeting
with rabbinical students that Christian houses of worship should be
destroyed.
"Churches should be burned", Gopstein said on
Wednesday before an audience of hundreds at a Jewish religious school,
according to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Rabbi Moshe Klein, who
attended the lecture, questioned Gopstein's stance and argued that the
current world requires a rejection of such an approach, while journalist
Beny Ravinovich was also surprised with what Benzi Gopstein had to say.
After
a tug of war, Gopstein said he was willing to do 50 years in prison for
what he believed, and claimed not to be inciting violence, but simply
explaining the thoughts that belonged to a Spanish Jew, Rabbi Rambam
Maimonides.
The Lehava organisation subscribes to ideas that
denounce assimilation between Jewish and non-Jewish people, and also
condemn homosexuality.
For its part, the Israel Religious Action
Centre, or IRAC, the legal wing of the Israel Movement for Reform and
Progressive Judaism, expressed concern about Gopstein's remarks, and the
centre previously demanded that he be questioned by the authorities for
his controversial views.
IRAC leader Rabbi Gilad Kariv said that
if Gopstein was not promptly charged for his statements, Israeli
society would be justified to say publicly that the legal system allows
for incitement, racism and violence, according to Haaretz daily
newspaper on Thursday.