Lehava
למניעת התבוללות בארץ הקודש | |
Abbreviation | Lehava |
---|---|
Formation | 2005 |
Founder | Bentzi Gopstein |
Purpose | Anti-miscegenation |
Headquarters | Jerusalem |
Membership | 10,000 |
Leader | Bentzi Gopstein |
Key people | Michael Ben-Ari Bentzi Gopstein Baruch Marzel Itamar Ben-Gvir |
Affiliations | Otzma Yehudit Hemla |
Website | www |
Lehava (להב"ה "Flame,"
Etymology
Lehava (להב"ה) is an acronym for the Hebrew phrase LiMniat Hitbolelut B'eretz HaKodesh (For the Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land). It is also the Hebrew word for "flame",[8] implying a keeping of the flame or faith, giving the phrase a double meaning.
Prominent members and supporters
Lehava's CEO is
A closely associated NPO called Hemla (Mercy), which for many years focused on "saving the daughters of Israel" from mixed marriages with Arab men, has received up to $175,000 per year from the state between 2005 and 2013. In 2011, an investigation by Haaretz first brought the issue to light. Part of the amount went as a salary to Bentzi Gopstein, Hemla's public relations director.[14][20]
Lehava is closely associated with the political party Otzma Yehudit, which is led by Itamar Ben-Gvir; the party shares its headquarters with Lehava in Jerusalem, and in 2014, police raided their headquarters.[21][22]
In January 2015, the Israeli TV channel
Activities
Opposition to interfaith marriages
The organization gained notoriety in 2010 after sending an open letter to Israeli Jewish supermodel Bar Refaeli urging her to break off her relationship with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who is Roman Catholic.[15][16][26]
Multiple rebbetzins, acting on behalf of Lehava, issued an open letter urging Israeli women not to associate with "non-Jews". Haaretz quoted the letter as saying, "Don't date non-Jews, don't work at places that non-Jews frequent, and don't do national service with non-Jews;" the letter implied that if they did so, they would be cut off from their "holy race".[27] The letter caused a controversy and was denounced by other rabbis.[28][29] When a poll was conducted of Jewish Israelis' reaction to the letters denouncing those who rent or sell homes to non-Jews, 44 per cent of Israeli Jews supported the rabbis' call, while 48 per cent were opposed.[30]
The organization has also spoken out against Mark Zuckerberg's marriage to Priscilla Chan.[31]
In 2014, it organized hostile protests against a mixed couple from
In 2013, it started a Facebook page with the purpose of identifying mixed Arab–Jewish couples. Still, the page was shut down in 2014 after there were numerous complaints. It had become a repository of racist comments. Liat Bar-Stav, a journalist who went undercover in the Lehava organization, described how their members looked for Jewish females who might be dating Arabs. If members thought they had discovered any, they would follow Gopstein's instructions: approach the woman, and forward her phone number to the organization for further action. "You approach the girl and say, 'Excuse me, I don't have a phone. May I make a call?' You call your phone, and that's how you get the number", Gopstein explained to the activists he coached.[34]
Calls for segregation
In addition to opposing interfaith marriages, Lehava has encouraged Israelis to report to the organization the names of Jews who rent to Arabs, so that they can be "named and shamed" publicly.[35] In 2012, the group distributed flyers in east Jerusalem warning Arabs not to visit the mostly Jewish western side of the city. It also campaigned against Jews and Arabs mixing on beaches.[36]
In November 2014, four activists in the group were arrested in Petah Tikva after they distributed propaganda material, then attacked and wounded police.[37] Liat Bar-Stav described a meeting that Gopstein led for his followers, in which he said to them, "Some 45 years ago, Rabbi Kahane said, shouted, and cried out that the enemies within us are a cancer, and that if we don't take this cancer and get rid of it, we won't continue to exist. Unfortunately, this dangerous cancer of co-existence has metastasized everywhere. There are various ministers in the government who are encouraging co-existence, who are giving them jobs, allowing them into the hi-tech world, allowing them to become doctors." As the crowd responded with booing and cheering, Gopstein continued: "The cancer we spoke about in the beginning has offshoots in the Knesset of Israel too. Thirty years ago, Rabbi Kahane stood up in the Knesset and took out a hangman's noose for traitors, a noose for the Arab MK who was there. It's not a threat, it's a promise, the rabbi said when attacked for doing so. So this is what I want to wish (former MK Azmi) Bishara on behalf of all of you." At this point, Gopstein waved a noose. "Your day will come, Azmi! We are waiting for the Israeli government to come and hang you from the tallest tree! Azmi, only thanks to Rabbi Kahane will we make sure you are hanged one day."[34]
In December 2014, three members of Lehava were arrested and charged with the 29 November arson at an integrated Arab-Jewish school. The suspects, Yitzhak Gabbai, and brothers Nahman Twito and Shlomo Twito, attacked the school, according to Shin Bet, "because Jews and Arabs learn together at the school, and the goal was to put opposition to co-existence and assimilation in the public eye".
Anti-LGBT
In 2017, Lehava protested the Jerusalem gay pride parade.[41][42] Prior to the 2018 march, Gopstein called LGBT activists "terrorists" and urged supporters to counterdemonstrate with banners saying "Jerusalem is not Sodom". Four Lehava supporters were arrested during the parade.[43] In 2020, Lehava urged its supporters to infiltrate the parade.[44]
Opposition to Christianity in Israel
Lehava had organized demonstrations protesting the presence of Christians in Israel, and in late 2015 demonstrated before the Jerusalem International YMCA, with the crowd shouting: "The Arabs won't defeat us with knives, and the Christians won't buy us with presents!"[5] Gopstein wrote an article for a local website, Kooker, in which he declared: "Missionary work must not be given a foothold... Let's throw the vampires out of our land before they drink our blood again."[5] He also called for a ban on the Christmas holiday.[citation needed]
Opposition to Lehava
Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the Israeli liberal Judaism primary advocacy organization, asserts that Lehava is racist, and maintains a public relations campaign against Lehava and Gopstein. In May 2016, IRAC stepped up the campaign, releasing statistics showing that Lehava's social media efforts were generating approximately 200,000 anti-Arab hate postings per year to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, about a quarter of which call for physical violence against Arabs. Facebook deleted seven Lehava accounts because of improper conduct, but Lehava continues to generate Facebook postings via other accounts.[45]
In May 2016, the
References
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- Kershner, Isabel (23 April 2021). "Israelis and Palestinians Clash Around Jerusalem's Old City". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
- Ben-Shitrit, Lihi; Elad-Strenger, Julia; Hirsch-Hoefler, Sivan (8 March 2021). "'Pinkwashing' the radical-right: Gender and the mainstreaming of radical-right policies and actions". S2CID 233798255.<
- Zriek, Raef; Dakwar, Azar (3 July 2021). "What's in the Apartheid Analogy? Palestine/Israel Refracted". Theory & Event. 23. ISSN 1092-311X. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- Pokrzywiński, Paweł (February 2019). "Lehawa Organisation – Kahane extremism". . Retrieved 23 May 2021.
- Tait, Robert (6 August 2015). "Burning of Christian churches in Israel justified, far-Right Jewish leader says". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
- Hasson, Nir (21 April 2021). "'Break Their Faces': As anti-Arab Attacks Spike, Jewish Supremacist Group Plans Jerusalem Show of Force". Haaretz. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- Elgindy, Khaled (6 May 2021). "Washington Has Enabled Israeli Extremism". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- Berger, Miriam (23 April 2021). "As coronavirus recedes in Israel, tensions rise in Jerusalem". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- Boxerman, Aaron (23 April 2021). "In Jerusalem, Palestinians and Jews see a night of rage and hate". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ David Lev (9 September 2013). "Lehava 'Hotline' to Help Prevent Intermarriage, Assimilation". Arutz Sheva.
- ^ Yasmin Kaye (22 September 2014). "Meet Lehava, the Israeli Fascists Mounting a Vicious Crusade to Keep their Women Away from Arabs". International Business Times.
- ^ "Grinning Jewish Extremists Charged in Jerusalem School Arson". The Forward. Reuters. 15 December 2014.
- ^ a b c Shira Rubin (24 December 2015). "Good Will and Peace Towards Men Elusive This Year in Nazareth". The Forward.
- ^ "halacha - What is the prohibition of intermarriage?". Mi Yodeya. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ a b "Israel's alt-right is now mainstream—are lawmakers doing enough to stop it?". Newsweek. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- ^ Kershner, Isabel (16 December 2014). "Israel Cracks Down on Lehava, a Group Tied to Anti-Arab Acts". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ "Israel charges extremist Jewish leader with incitement". AP NEWS. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ Pileggi, Tamar. "Jewish extremist hit with terror charges after years of anti-Arab rhetoric". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ Freidson, Yael (26 November 2019). "Israel charges leader of extreme Jewish group with incitement". ynetnews. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ Williams, Dan (28 December 2014). "Racist Jewish Group Offers Dilemma to Israel as Anti-Arab Violence Rises". The Forward.
- ^ Council on Foreign Relations (20 March 2008), "Kach, Kahane Chai (Israel, extremists)" [1]
- ^ a b Uri Blau; Shai Greenberg (27 May 2011). "A strange kind of mercy". Haaretz. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ^ a b c Ettinger, Yair (21 December 2014). "Israel Police arrests four more anti-Arab activists from rightist group Lehava". Haaretz. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ^ a b Kay, Felicity (15 March 2010). "Marzel urges super model Refaeli not to marry DiCaprio". The Jerusalem Post.
- ^ Allyn Fisher-Ilan (18 August 2014). "Israeli wedding of Jew, Muslim draws protesters amid war tensions". Reuters.
- ^ Kobi Nachshoni (2 February 2009). "מספר 4 באיחוד הלאומי: כולם מבינים שכהנא צדק" [Number 4 in the National Union: Everyone Understands that Kahane was Right] (in Hebrew). Ynet.
- nrg Maariv.
- ^ Vered Lee (25 April 2013). "Love in the time of racism: The new, dangerous low in the campaign to stop interracial relationships". Haaretz. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ^ "Police Raid the Offices of Otzma Yehudit". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ Winer, Stuart (18 December 2014). "Police raid offices of anti-assimilation group Lehava". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ Lappin, Yaakov (4 January 2015). "Report: Ya'alon moves to name anti-assimilation group Lehava a terrorist organization". The Jerusalem Post.
- ^ Ishaan Tharoor, "Why Israel may list this hard-line Jewish group as a terrorist organization" The Washington Post, 5 January 2015
- ^ Justin Jalil, "Anti-assimilation group could be classified as terrorist", The Times of Israel, 4 January 2015
- ^ Dana Makover (16 March 2010). "Jewish Organization Lehava Defends Call for Bar Refaeli / Leo DiCaprio Breakup". Heeb.
- ^ Chaim Levinson, "Rabbis' wives urge Israeli women: Stay away from Arab men" Haaretz, 28 December 2010
- Ynetnews.
- ^ "Rebbetzins: Women, stay away from Arab men". The Jerusalem Post. 28 December 2010.
- ^ Mark Weiss, "Rabbis' wives call on Jews not to date Arabs" The Daily Telegraph, 29 December 2010
- ^ "Head of Israeli anti-assimilation group objects to Zuckerberg marrying non-Jew", Al Arabiya, 27 December 2012.
- Sydney Morning Herald, 16 August 2014.
- ^ Roy Arad (19 August 2014). "Extremists' hatred poisons Mahmoud and Morel's wedding". Haaretz.
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- ^ Orlando Crowcroft (17 August 2014). "Israeli court allows protesters to picket Palestinian-Jewish wedding". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
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- ^ Gili Cohen (11 December 2014). "Shin Bet: Anti-Arab activists admit to J'lem school arson: Suspects reportedly members of extremist group Lehava, which is fighting Jewish assimilation". Haaretz.
- ^ "Smirking Right-Wing Extremists Confess To Torching Jerusalem School". The Forward. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 12 December 2014.
- ^ Levinson, Chaim (16 December 2014). "Police raid homes of right-wing Lehava activists, arrest chairman Gopstein". Haaretz.
- ^ "You would never hold a gay parade in an Arab town". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
- ^ Gilenson. "Jerusalem pride parade: Suspect arrested with knife". JerusalemOnline. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
- i24NEWS. 2 August 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ staff, T. O. I. "Jewish extremist group Lehava said planning to disrupt LGBTQ rally in Jerusalem". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ Tal Ariel-Amir (20 May 2016). "המרכז שנלחם בארגון להב"ה: "כסות יהודית שנועדה להסתיר גזענות"" [Center fighting organization Lehava: 'Using Judaism as a cloak to conceal racism']. Maariv (in Hebrew).
- ^ In First, ADL Urges Clampdown on Extremist Israeli Group Lehava Haaretz, 26 May 2015