Neturei Karta rabbi to Iran newspaper: Israel will cease to exist

Rabbi David Weiss says: Israel was established in the name of Judaism but is impure and Godless

Dudi Cohen
16 August 2006

In an interview with official Iranian news agency IRNA, Rabbi David Weiss, of the Neturei Karta movement, said "Israel was established in the name of Judaism but is impure and Godless. We are sure that it will cease to exist."

Neturei Karta is a small group of Ultra-Orthodox Jews who reject all forms of Zionism and oppose the existence of that state of Israel. This stems from their belief that Israel can only truly be reestablished with the coming of the Messiah and, subsequently, that any state of Israel prior to this exists in violation of divine will.

In an interview with an IRNA journalist, in New York, Rabbi Weiss stated that "We don’t know how much blood will be shed until the state of Israel will cease to exist, but we pray to the Creator that it will happen with the minimum amount of loss and bloodshed."

According to Weiss, "The creation of the state of Israel does not conform to Jewish law and, actually, is contrary to it. Jewish rabbis around the world fear to express their opinions because of the intimidating atmosphere creating by the Zionists."

Weiss addressed UN Security Council resolution 1701 and said: "I oppose this decision because it does not touch upon the demands of the Lebanese or Palestinian people."

"We believe that the day is close at hand when Israel will lose its strength. The Torah says that whatever exists in opposition to divine will cannot continue. As I understand it, things are changing every day and we are sure that Israel will cease to exist."

‘Problem today is Zionism’

Weiss discussed Israel’s weakening hand in the war on terror and said: "In 1967, if you would have said anything about giving away part of the Gaza Strip to Palestinians, people would have killed you. Now we see that, after more than fifty years, Israel is trying to defeat Palestinian resistance, but is not succeeding."

Regarding the demographic problem, he said that "The Muslim population in Israel is growing rapidly and, in the upcoming years, most of the state will be Muslim."

"As long as Olmert and his government are weakening, so much the better, but we would prefer a general revolution in Israel. Olmert expected a miracle but Lebanon showed him the opposite. In the Torah it says that an illegal government of Jews is considered a revolt against God and, therefore, God will not help them," he continued.

Weiss was asked what solution he suggests to Muslims, Christians and Jews in order to live in peace and security, side by side. In response, he answered: "We and the Muslims lived side by side for hundreds of years with no problem. At that time, there was no UN and no human rights. The problem today is not religion, but rather Zionism. Zionism takes advantage of religion and sees all of its opponents as anti-Semitic."