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Neturei Karta (Aramaic: נטורי קרתא; "Guardians of the City") is a group of Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) Jews who reject all forms of Zionism and actively oppose the existence of the State of Israel. They are concentrated in Jerusalem, with branches in and around New York City and in Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem. Estimates of their membership range from 5,000 to less than 1,000. Other small groups associated with Neturei Karta but not actual members of the group, can be found in London, Vienna (Austria), Antwerp (Belgium), New York City, and other parts of New York state.

Mainstream Orthodox Jewish communities, including some who oppose Zionism, have denounced Neturei Karta's activities; according to The Guardian, "ven among Charedi, or ultra-Orthodox circles, the Neturei Karta are regarded as a wild fringe". Neturei Karta claims that the mass media deliberately downplays their viewpoint and makes them out to be few in number. Their protests are usually attended by just a few dozen people.

Neturei Karta are sometimes mistakenly confused with Satmar Hasidim, due to their similar mode of dress, and some similarities in their anti-Zionist ideology.

Ideology

Adherents of Neturei Karta stress those portions in rabbinic literature which state that the Jewish people were first sent into exile from the land of Israel for their sins. Additionally, they maintain the view that any form of forceful recapture of Israel is a violation of divine will (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Ketuboth 111). They believe that the true Commonwealth of Israel can only be reestablished with the coming of the Messiah.

Neturei Karta teaches that the exile of the Jews can end only with the arrival of the Messiah, and that human attempts return to the Land of Israel are sinful. In Neturei Karta's view, Zionism is a presumptuous affront against God. Such beliefs have lead to accusations that the group perpetuates a "ghetto mentality" in which Jews have little to no agency in determining their fate in the world.

In recent years, after the death of Rabbi Amram Blau, radicals, under the guidance of Moshe Hirsch, departed from the more passive members of the Neturei Karta has aligned itself with Yasser Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization and later, the Palestinian Authority. Other Jewish groups have criticized this alignment, describing it as condoning or even abetting Palestinian terrorism. These people who operate under the Neturei Karta name have been excommunicated by the real Neturei Karta. In fact, they will not be counted in a quorum of ten men required to say certain prayers in a synagogue. Hirsch is considered to be a "wicked" person by the Charedi Jewish community. Despite their extreme views on Zionism, the Neturei Karta and Satmar would never align themselves with Israel's enemies.

In 2002, during Israel's "Operation Defensive Shield", the Israeli military captured numerous documents from the headquarters of Arafat which demonstrated that Rabbi Moshe Hirsch was on Arafat's payroll and received payments totaling $55,000. Rabbi Hirsch's son, however, denied that any payment was accepted.

In 2000 and in 2006, Hirsch's Neturei Karta visited Iran. During the 2006 visit, they praised Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and expressed solidarity with the Iranian position of Anti-zionism and Ahmadinejad's calls' for the dismantling of the Israeli state.

History

For the most part, the members of Neturei Karta are descended from Hungarian Jews who settled in Jerusalem's Old City in the early nineteenth century, and from Lithuanian Jews who were students of the Gaon of Vilna, who had settled earlier. In the late nineteenth century, they participated in the creation of new neighborhoods outside the city walls to alleviate overcrowding in the Old City, and most are now concentrated in the neighborhood of Batei Ungarin and the larger Meah Shearim neighborhood.

At the time, they were vocal opponents to the new political ideology of Zionism that was attempting to assert Jewish sovereignty in Ottoman-controlled Palestine. They resented the new arrivals, who were predominantly secular, and claimed that Jewish redemption could only be brought about by the Jewish messiah.

Among the proofs they brought for this argument was a Talmudic statement that God, the Jewish people, and the nations of the world made a divine pact, when the Jews were sent into exile by the Roman Empire. One provision of the pact was (1) that the Jews would not rebel against the non-Jewish world that gave them sanctuary; a second was (2) that they would not immigrate en masse to the Land of Israel. In return, the legend states, the (3) gentile nations promised not to persecute the Jews too harshly. By rebelling against this pact, they argued, the Jewish People were engaging in open rebellion against God. Some have argued that by transgressing (3), the gentiles broke their part of the pact. Others argue that the 1947 UN decision awarding a Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel constitutes the gentiles' permission to immigrate en masse to the Land of Israel and therefore waives their part of the pact. This position was held by the bulk of the Orthodox world before and even after World War II.

1947 - 1967

The small faction of Orthodox Zionists were the most prominent representatives of Jewish religious communities when the United Nations voted to partition Palestine on November 29 - 1947. However, representatives of another Orthodox party, Agudath Israel, actually asked the General Assembly to vote against partition.

Nevertheless, Agudath Israel reevaluated its position upon the establishment of Israel and has been a participant in most governments since that time (though it still will not accept a ministerial portfolio as a result).

This switch of allegiance by Agudath Israel caused a radical shift in the ideology of Neturei Karta, which felt betrayed by their Orthodox allies.

Their opposition to Israel and Zionism became all the more extreme, especially under the leadership of Rabbi Amram Blau and his wife, a convert and former member of the French Resistance, who had rescued Blau during the Holocaust.

The community became more insular, while forming alliances with other sects that rejected the support given by Agudat Israel to Israel's secular government after independence. Among their allies were the large and affluent Hasidic group Satmar, under the leadership of Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, formerly of Hungary and later of New York City, as well as other Hasidic groups, some in Israel and others in the Diaspora.

With their help, Neturei Karta was able to withstand paying taxes to the state that they did not recognize and conversely, to avoid obtaining any benefits from that state by revitalizing the halukah distribution of funds that characterized earlier generations. As such they became a self-contained community within Israel with few formal ties to the surrounding political infrastructure.

Some elements of their rejection make clear the depth of their opposition - most will not touch paper money or coins with pictures of Zionists on them - Einstein and Montefiore are acceptable, Herzl and Weizmann are not. They view these items as heretical, and in some cases the men make their wives use these items when their usage is unavoidable. They will not approach the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem, feeling it has been befouled by secular interests and those professing Zionism, which they see as an abomination.

1967 - present

While many in Neturei Karta chose to simply ignore the State of Israel, this became more difficult.

A fringe element among Neturei Karta took proactive steps to condemn Israel and bring about its eventual dismantling until the coming of the Messiah. Chief among these is Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, Neturei Karta's self-proclaimed "Foreign Minister", author of its prayer book Siddur Vilna, who served in Yasser Arafat's cabinet as Minister for Jewish Affairs.

Rabbi Hirsch and his followers maintain that an Orthodox community of Jews can and should be a viable minority in an Arab-controlled Palestinian state. Their main synagogue is the beis midrash 'Ohel Sarah' in the center of Meah Shearim.

Rabbi Hirsch claims that there is a striking accord between the views of Neturei Karta and those of Fatah, which was the dominant party in the Palestinian Authority until the 2006 Palestinian election: both seek to distinguish Judaism from Zionism, both favour a secular and non-sectarian government in Palestine. He has also sought refugee status at the UN for Neturei Karta.

In America, the Neturei Karta are led by Rabbi Moshe Ber Beck of Monsey, New York. He has courted controversy by meeting with Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan, who has been accused of anti-Semitism and of describing Judaism as a "dirty religion." After meeting with the representatives from Neturei Karta, Farrakhan clarified his prior anti-Semitic statements and indicated he would be more careful in his choice of words in the future , although Farrakhan has more recently been accused of making fresh anti-Semitic remarks.

In the UK, Rabbi Yosef Goldstein testified on behalf of Abu Hamza al-Masri of the Finsbury Park Mosque, who in recordings has called for the murder of Jews and infidels. Rabbi Goldstein testified that he and Abu Hamza had a "friendly and cordial relationship."

Death of Yasser Arafat

Because members of Neturei Karta participated in a 2004 prayer vigil for Yasser Arafat outside the Percy Military Hospital in Paris, France, where he lay on his death bed, the group was condemned by many Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish organizations, including, but not limited to:

Anshei Sfard; Satmar; Bobov; Emunas Yisroel; Ger; Belz; Bnei Yehuda, Nitra; Vizhnitz; Munkacz; Vien; Klausenberg; Torah Vodaas; Novominsk; Torah Temimah; Chasam Sofer; Kiryas Joel - Monroe; Puppa; Young Israel of Brooklyn; Cong. Shomrei Shabbos; United Lubavitch Organizations of Crown Heights; Kamenitz; Agudath Israel 14th Avenue; United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg; Boro Park Jewish Council; Debrecin; US Friends of the Eda Haredit; Lakewood Yeshiva.

In their joint press release, the critics stated:

Their joining in vigils and 'prayers' for the arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat with Jew-haters of all manner, is an outrage that we cannot ignore and will not forgive. We again demand that rabbis and community leaders of all communities ensure that members of this group are refused entry to all houses of prayer. These nefarious associates of Jewry's enemies have unfortunately again succeeded in their crazed hunger for publicity and are being depicted in local and international media — outfitted in their religious attire — bewailing the impending demise of a mass-murderer — side-by-side with Palestinian Jew-haters. The shame and embarrassment to decent religious Jews worldwide is unbearable.

Although there had been previous criticism of the group from Orthodox and Haredi circles , this was one of the most forceful condemnations. Particularly notable was the condemnation by the Satmar sect, the largest Hasidic movement, and which had earlier been allied with Neturei Karta, as there were ideological parallels in their beliefs vis à vis Zionism.

Since 2005

In October 2005, Neturei Karta leader Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss issued a statement criticizing Jewish attacks on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Weiss wrote that Ahmadinejad's statements were not "indicative of anti-Jewish sentiments", but rather, "a yearning for a better, more peaceful world", and "re-stating the beliefs and statements of Ayatollah Khomeini, who always emphasized and practiced the respect and protection of Jews and Judaism."

In March 2006, several Neturei Karta members visited Iran where they met with Iranian statesmen, including the Vice-President, and praised Ahmadinejad for calling for the State of Israel to be "wiped off the map." The spokesmen commented that they shared Ahmadinejad's aspiration for "a disintegration of the Israeli government". When asked by reporters, the group also mentioned that they were not bothered by Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial. In an interview with Iranian television reporters, Rabbi Weiss remarked, "The Zionists use the Holocaust issue to their benefit. We, Jews who perished in the Holocaust, do not use it to advance our interests. We stress that there are hundreds of thousands Jews around the world who identify with our opposition to the Zionist ideology and who feel that Zionism is not Jewish, but a political agenda...What we want is not a withdrawal to the ‘67 borders, but to everything included in it, so the country can go back to the Palestinians and we could live with them..."

Neturei Karta claims it has helped improve the situation of Jews still living in Iran, and was integral to the efforts to help free thirteen Iranian Jews who were arrested in 1999, convicted of spying for Israel in May 2000, and finally released in 2001 and 2003. A Neturei Karta delegation did visit Iran in June 2000; however the suggestion that it was key to the prisoners' release several years later cannot be verified, particularly in light of the fact that several delegation members, including Rabbi Weiss, declared on Iranian television that Israel had "tricked" the men into spying, giving credence to the government's accusation while the trial was still ongoing. (Four of the thirteen defendants continually maintained their innocence, and several of the others' "confessions" were suspected to have been coerced. Four later recanted their confessions during trial.) (See also Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Israel)

Footnotes

1. In a state over Israel by Simon Rocker (The Guardian) November 25, 2002
2. Photocopies of documents and receipts (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, ITC CSS)
3. Amir Rappaport. Arafat transferred funds to (Hirsch's) Neturei Karta: Captured PA documents reveal that $55,000 given to leader of the anti-Zionist sect. Maariv International, 2 April 2004.
4. Neturei Karta "Rabbi" Received $55,000 from Arafat (IsraelNN) August 16, 2004
5. Anti-Zionist Neturei Karta Sect Visits Iran, Praises Ahmadinejad by Amihai Zippor (Israel Hasbarah Committee News) March 9, 2006)
6. Third meeting held between Nation of Islam and Jewish rabbis by Saeed Shabazz (FinalCall) January 11, 2000
7. Exile and Redemption: The Torah Approach by a Friend of Neturei Karta (NKUSA) February 2000
8. Illinois blacks, Jews in row over Farrakhan remarks by Shmuel Rosner (Haaretz) March 24, 2006
9. Angry Response to Neturei Karta Prayers for Arafat (IsraelNN) November 12, 2004
10. Satmar And Others Condemn Hareidi PLO-Sympathizers (IsraelNN) April 28, 2002
11. The Orthodox Jewish response to the criticism of the Iranian President (statement for Al Q'uds Day) (NKUSA) October 28 , 2005
12. Neturei Karta in Iran: Zionists use Holocaust by Roee Nahmias (YNetNews) March 12, 2006
13. Neturei Karta sect pays visit to Iran by Michael Freund (Jerusalem Post) March 8, 2006
14. Ingrained Prejudice (NKUSA)
15. Rabbis visiting Iran say brethren duped by Israel by Ali Raiss-Tousi (Reuters) June 9, 2000
16. Backgrounder: The Trial of 13 Iranian Jews (Anti-Defamation League) March 2003

External links

Links supporting Neturei Karta

• Neturei Karta official home page
• Interview with Rabbbis Weiss and Cohen of Neturei Karta on Iranian Television
• Declaration on ‘the Palestine issue’ by Neturei Karta of the UK
• Interview: Rabbi Beck of Neturei Karta (1991)
• Mitchell Kaidy. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. "Neturei Karta, Shunned by Media, Makes Jewish Anti-Zionism Known"
• 'The Guardians of the City', by Uriel Zimmer, about the history of Neturei Karta and Jewish anti-Zionism

Links opposing Neturei Karta

• Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, PLO Agent by Daniel Pipes (Weblog) September 25, 2004
• Neturei Karta ("Jews Against Zionism") Definition (Zionism and Israel - Encyclopedic Dictionary)
• Israelnn.com: Neturei Karta "Rabbi" Received $55,000 from Arafat

Neutral links

• In a state over Israel, The Guardian.
• "The unorthodox orthodox", The Guardian.
• Neturei Karta (Jewish Virtual Library)
• 'From the Language of G-d to the Language of the Devil', by Prof. Beer Chaim, Ben Gurion University of the Negev

• Israel and Zionism
• Anti-national sentiment
• Haredi Judaism