Vatican rep urges Israels AG to prosecute Jewish extremist

An attorney representing the Custodian of the Holy Land wrote in a letter to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein that legal action against Benzi Gopstein, the head of far-right group Lehava, was necessary due to “the public interest and of the present danger to churches and Christian communities in the country, and the real concern of further harm to them as a result of this incitement.””This isnt a time for procrastination, delays and helplessness! This is a time for determined and uncompromising action by law enforcement authorities under your leadership. The writing is on the wall, and a cost to human life, with consequences which cannot be foretold, isnt a question of if but of when,” the letter was quoted by the Haaretz website as saying.Catholic Church leaders in Israel filed an incitement complaint against Gopstein with police on Friday.In June, part of a shrine in northern Israel where Christians believe Jesus carried out the miracle of loaves and fishes was torched. Three alleged extremists have been charged in connection with the arson.Despite its extremist views, Gopsteins Lehava organization is still able operate in Israel after the Shin Bet security service announced earlier this week that there was not sufficient evidence to outlaw it and declare it a “terrorist organization.”Lehava activists follow the teachings of the late Meir Kahane, a virulently anti-Arab rabbi whose Kach party was banned in Israel, and its members fight against intermarriage.Last January Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon instructed the legal department of his cabinet to consider designating Lehava a “terrorist organization” following widespread arrests of over a dozen members of Lehava on suspicion of incitement to violence.

 

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