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{{Short description|Anti-Zionist Haredi Jewish religious group}}
]
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
'''Neturei Karta''' (]: נטורי קרתא; ]: "Guardians of the City") is a group of ] (Ultra-Orthodox) Jews who reject all forms of ] and actively oppose the State of ]. They number under 5,000 and are concentrated in ]. Other small groups associated with Neturei Karta but not members of the group, can be found in Israel, ], ], and other parts of ].
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Neturei Karta
| image = File:Members of Neturei Karta Orthodox Jewish group protest against Israel.jpg
| alt = <!-- alt text; see ] -->
| caption = Members of Neturei Karta at a ] in the ], 2005
| formation = {{start date and age|1938}}
| native name = {{nobold|{{Script/Hebrew|נָטוֹרֵי קַרְתָּא}}}}
| native_name_lang = tmr
| founder =
| founding_location = ], ]
| merger =
| merged =
| type = ] and ]
| purpose = ]
| location_city = ] (]), ], ], ]
| coords = <!-- Coordinates of location using {{Coord}} -->
| origins = ]
| region = Worldwide
| products = ]
| membership = 1000-2000 (estimated c. 2007)
| language = ], ], ], ]
| leader_title = Spokesman
| leader_name = ]
| key_people = ] (d. 2021)<ref>{{cite news|title=Neturei Karta Leader Moshe Ber Beck Dies In Monsey |url=https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/featured/1965320/neturei-karta-leader-moshe-ber-beck-dies-in-monsey.html |access-date=16 April 2021 |work=The Yeshiva World |date=16 April 2021}}</ref>
| affiliations = ]
| website = https://www.nkusa.org/
| footnotes =
}}
]]]
<!-- regarding vvvvv this: yes, Neturei Karta really is ARAMAIC and not HEBREW. editors already thrice changed Aramaic to Hebrew; this is correct. -->


'''Neturei Karta''' ({{Langx|tmr|נָטוֹרֵי קַרְתָּא|label=]|translit=nāṭōrē qartāʾ|lit=Guardians of the City}}) is an ] and ] ] group.
Other ] communities, including some who oppose Zionism, have denounced Neturei Karta's activities; according to '']'', "ven among ], or ultra-Orthodox circles, the Neturei Karta are regarded as a wild fringe". Neturei Karta holds that the mass media deliberately downplays their viewpoint and makes them out to be just a few, while there are a large number of Jews with the same or similar beliefs.


Founded in ] in 1937 by ] and ], Neturei Karta was formed as an offshoot of the ]. Aguda, representing the most devout of the Haredi Jewish community in the ], was opposed to the secular orientation and nationalism of ], which the religiously devout members of Aguda believed represented a threat to their way of life and was a rejection of Torah law. However, Blau and Neturei Karta disagreed with Aguda's accommodationist stance to Zionism in the 1930s in response to ].


Neturei Karta believes that the ] will usher in a Jewish ] to rule over the ]. The messiah will bring about the resurrection of the dead, the ingathering of the exiles, and a complete return to ]. The group, numbering in the low thousands, does not recognize the modern ], and since the 1960s has pursued relationships with entities who ], such as allies in the Arab world and Iran. It does not support a separate Palestinian state.


The group's views are considered fringe, even within Haredi Jewish circles.<ref name=Fringe>Sources describing the group as fringe:
==Ideology==
* {{cite journal |last1=Zamaret |first1=Zvi |title=Judaism in Israel: Ben-Gurion's Private Beliefs and Public Policy |journal=] |date=Fall 1999 |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=78 |jstor=30245511 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30245511 |access-date=9 October 2023 |quote=yet a few years later, women's suffrage was accepted by the entire Orthodox community (excluding Neturei Karata and similar fringe groups)}}
Adherents of Neturei Karta stress those portions in ] 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 ], tractate Ketuboth 111). They believe that the true Commonwealth of Israel can only be reestablished with the coming of the ].
* {{cite news |title=Israeli Anti-Zionist Sentenced for Spying for Iran |url=https://forward.com/news/breaking-news/191723/israeli-anti-zionist-sentenced-for-spying-for-iran/ |access-date=9 October 2023 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |publisher=] |date=2014-01-28 |quote=Members of Neturei Karta, a fringe ultra-Orthodox sect in Israel, join a pro-Palestinian protest.}}
* {{cite news |last1=Sterman |first1=Adiv |title=Ultra-Orthodox 'Iran spy' sentenced to 4.5 years |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/ultra-orthodox-iran-spy-sentenced-to-4-5-years/ |access-date=9 October 2023 |work=Times of Israel |date=2014-01-28 |quote=Yitzhak Bergel, a member of the anti-Zionist fringe group Neturei Karta, confessed to initiating contact with Iranian officials}}
* {{cite news |last1=Goldman |first1=Mordechai |title=Why these ultra-Orthodox Jews support the Palestinian cause |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2015/11/neturei-karta-ultra-orthodox-demonstration-new-york.html |access-date=9 October 2023 |work=] |date=2015-11-02 |quote=A member of Neturei Karta, a fringe ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement within the anti-Zionist bloc, carries Palestinian flags during a rally marking the 10th anniversary of the death of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in the West Bank city of Ramallah}}</ref> Particularly, Neturei Karta's relationship with Iran and its attendance at the ] drew condemnation from other Orthodox Jewish movements.


== Etymology ==
Neturei Karta teaches that Jews must wait for God to end the exile of the Jews, and that human attempts to do so are sinful. In their view, Zionism is a presumptuous affront against ]. Their websites claim that the Zionists deliberately condemned thousands of Jews to die in ], rather than allow them to emigrate to destinations other than ], in order for the Zionists to claim a Zionist State. Some leaders of the movement have speculated that ] was divine punishment for the sins of secular Jews, and that it was, in part, a spiritual punishment for Zionism.
The name ''Neturei Karta'' means "city guards" in ]<ref name="Haaretzexplainer">{{cite news |title=Explained: Who Are Neturei Karta, the Jewish ultra-Orthodox pro-Palestinian Activists |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-03-27/ty-article-magazine/.premium/explained-who-are-neturei-karta-the-jewish-ultra-orthodox-pro-palestinian-activists/0000018e-7039-df85-afde-f77d40640000 |access-date=18 August 2024 |work=] |date=2024-03-27 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240630215229/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-03-27/ty-article-magazine/.premium/explained-who-are-neturei-karta-the-jewish-ultra-orthodox-pro-palestinian-activists/0000018e-7039-df85-afde-f77d40640000 |archive-date=2024-06-30}}</ref> and is derived from an ] recorded in several ] texts, including ] ] 1:7. There, it is related that:
<blockquote>] sent rabbis{{Efn|In the Yerushalmi and Midrash Tehillim: ], ], and ]. In ], Immi and ]. In ], Immi and Assi. Meiri (to Shabbat 114a) recalls "one of their sages". ] (Hagigah 10a) recalls "Hiyya and Jose".}} to tour the cities of ] and establish for them teachers and scribes. They came to one place and did not find a teacher or a scribe. They said, "Bring us the city guards," and the city watchmen were brought.{{Efn|In the Yerushalmi apparently corrupt: "Bring us the city guards, bring us the watchmen." Other versions (including the '']'' citation) are as presented. The word סנטרי "watchmen" is Lat. ''saltarii''; see D. Sperber, "On Pubs and Policemen in Roman Palestine" p. 259, S. Lieberman to t. BM 9:14, and Sokoloff, p. 383-384.}} They said, "These are the city ruiners, but those are the city guards."{{Efn|Here the ''Arukh'' appears to preserve the best text, which is presented. In the Yerushalmi and Midrash Tehillim, "These are the city guards!? These are nothing but city ruiners!" In the Pesiqta deRav Kehana and Eichah Rabbah, "These are city guards, these are the city ruiners."}} And who were the city guards? The scribes and the teachers, who guard the Torah day and night.{{Efn|At this point each version cites a Biblical verse in support, including Ps. 127:1, Josh. 1:8, or both. The '']'' (Bo 6:143) has a different interpretation of this aggadta.}}
</blockquote>


The name thus reflects Neturei Karta's original mission to oppose efforts in the ] to establish an armed force during the ], arguing that such a force would be destructive and that Torah scholars are the true guards.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Inbari |first=Motti |date=2010 |title=Rabbi Amram Blau Founder of the Neturei Karta Movement: An Abridged Biography |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23509957 |journal=Hebrew Union College Annual |volume=81 |pages=193–232 |jstor=23509957 |issn=0360-9049}}</ref> Today, the Neturei Karta understand it to mean that they defend their interpretation of ] against that of other rabbis who support the ].<ref name="whatnk">{{Cite web |date= |title=What is the Neturei Karta? |url=http://www.nkusa.org/aboutus/index.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070119225145/http://www.nkusa.org/aboutus/index.cfm |archive-date=19 January 2007 |access-date= |website=nkusa.org}}</ref>
In recent years, Neturei Karta has aligned itself with ], the ] and later, the ]. Other Jewish groups have criticized this alignment, describing it as condoning or even abetting ].


==History==
In 2002, during Israel's "]", the ] claimed to have captured numerous documents {{ref|araf_ap17}} from the headquarters of Arafat which proved that ] was on Arafat's payroll. Rabbi Hirsch's son, however, denied that any payment was accepted{{ref|55k}}.
{{further|Haredim and Zionism}}


===Pre-Modern State of Israel===
In 2005, the Neturei Karta met with ] ] and expressed soldiarity with the Iranian position of ] and his calls' for the destruction of the ] until the coming of the ].
In the ] under the ], the religious Jewish communities primarily concentrated in the Jewish holy cities of ], ], ], and ] largely eschewed the secular orientation of ], which they saw as a potential threat to their way of life.<ref name="Haaretzexplainer" /> They resented the new arrivals, who were predominantly non-religious, while they asserted that Jewish redemption could be brought about only by the Jewish messiah.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}


In 1921, some of the most devout of the Ashkenazi Old Yishuv formed the ] as a counterpoint to the ], created by the British ] government. The Haredi saw the rabbinate as a capitulation to the secular Zionists and their nationalist aspirations.<ref name="Haaretzexplainer" />
==History==

===Early history===
The ] represented by the Haredi Council opposed the formation of a ] in the ] and discouraged its European members from ]. However, in the 1930s, the movement adopted a more compromising and accommodationist approach to the Zionist movement in response to rising antisemitism in Europe. Aguda's leniency was too much for Rabbi ], active in Aguda's Jerusalem chapter. Along with Rabbi Aharon Katzenelbogen, Blau split with the Aguda in 1937 and co-founded Chevrat HaChayim, quickly renamed Neturei Karta.<ref name="Haaretzexplainer" /><ref>Rabbi Amram Blau Founder of the Neturei Karta Movement: An Abridged Biography. Motti Inbari, Hebrew Union College Annual, Vol. 81 (2010), pp. 11-12.</ref>
For the most part, the members of Neturei Karta are descended from ] Jews that settled in Jerusalem's Old City in the early nineteenth century, and from ] Jews who were students of the ], 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 ] and the larger ] neighborhood.

]
] protests in Berlin 2014]]
At the time, they were vocal opponents to the new political ideology of ] that was attempting to assert Jewish sovereignty in ]-controlled ]. They resented the new arrivals, who were predominantly secular, and claimed that Jewish redemption could only be brought about by the ].

===Modern State of Israel===
After the ] in 1948, Neturei Karta refused to recognize the Israeli government or any of its institutions. The group began holding public protests that often turned violent over what they perceived as the secularization of Jerusalem, the violation of ] in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, and public gender mixing.<ref name="Haaretzexplainer" />

After the ], Neturei Karta began cultivating friendly relationships in the ]. In 1969, the group protested Israel outside the ], then in 1970 held a similar protest with the new ] (PLO). Then Neturei Karta leader ] befriended PLO leader ], who many Israelis viewed as their public enemy number one. Arafat appointed Hirsch to the symbolic position of Jewish affairs minister, receiving a $30,000 monthly salary.<ref name="Haaretzexplainer" /> Two Neturei Karta members participated in a 2004 prayer vigil for Arafat outside the ] in ], ], where he lay on his death bed,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/11/international/europe/11vigil.html?_r=0|newspaper=New York Times|title=Arafat's Followers Kept Solemn Vigil Outside Hospital in France|author=Elaine Sciolino|date=11 November 2004|access-date=7 January 2013}}</ref> an act widely condemned by other Orthodox Jewish organizations, including many other anti-Zionist Haredi organizations, both in New York and Jerusalem. Hirsh attended Arafat's funeral in Ramallah.<ref name="Forwardexplainer" />

==Members==
Generally, members of Neturei Karta are descendants of ] Jews and ] who were students of the ] (known as '']'') who had settled in Jerusalem in the early nineteenth century. In the late nineteenth century, their ancestors 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 ] and the larger ] neighborhood. Members of the ] are also prominently represented within Neturei Karta.

Neturei Karta is notoriously vague about its size, and there are no official population statistics available, in 1971, it was reported to consist of several hundred families in Israel and throughout the diaspora.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lamm |first=Norman |date=1971 |title=THE IDEOLOGY OF THE NETUREI KARTA: According to the Satmarer Version |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23257379 |journal=Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=38–53 |jstor=23257379 |issn=0041-0608}}</ref> As recently as 2007, the group was reported to have a few thousand members.<ref>{{cite news | last = Santos | first = Fernanda | title = New York Rabbi Finds Friends in Iran and Enemies at Home | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/nyregion/15rabbi.html | newspaper = The New York Times | date = 2007-01-15 | access-date = 2024-04-16}}</ref> '']'' estimated in 2024 that the group had a membership in the low thousands, predominantly in Israel, but also in diaspora locations with large populations of ultra-Orthodox Jews.<ref name="Haaretzexplainer" />

==Relationship with other Jewish movements==
The group's strong anti-Zionist stance and controversial tactics place Neturei Karta on the fringe, even in ], or ultra-Orthodox circles. Other movements, including ] sects like the ], have disavowed Neturei Karta and condemned its activities.<ref name=Fringe /><ref> by Simon Rocker ('']'') 25 November 2002</ref><ref name="Forwardexplainer">{{cite news |last1=Fox |first1=Mira |title=What is Neturei Karta, the Orthodox group at all the pro-Palestinian protests? |url=https://forward.com/culture/570974/neturei-karta-orthodox-jewish-israel-palestine-protests/ |access-date=20 August 2024 |work=] |date=2023-11-22}}</ref> The Satmar movement criticized Neturei Karta for attending the ] in Tehran in 2006.<ref name="Levenson2012">{{cite book|author=Alan T. Levenson|title=The Wiley-Blackwell History of Jews and Judaism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgJtcvs7ObAC&pg=PT455|access-date=7 January 2013|date=12 March 2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-23293-4|page=455}}</ref> During the Israel-Hamas war, Rabbi ], one of the two Grand Rebbes of Satmar, condemned Neturei Karta, calling the group's support for Hamas "a terrible desecration of God's name to support murderers in the name of the holy Torah and God's name." Rabbi ], a leading ] rabbi condemned Neturei Karta and described their actions as "like somebody marching with ]."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hakimi |first1=Lauren |title=YY Jacobson on Neturei Karta: 'I doubt they're really Jewish,' claims they are agents of Iran |url=https://www.shtetl.org/article/yy-jacobson-neturei-karta-doubt-theyre-jewish-sick-people |access-date=28 August 2024 |work=Shtetl |date=2023-12-26}}</ref>

One of the targets of the ] was the ], which was operated by the Jewish ] movement. Neturei Karta subsequently issued a leaflet criticising the ] movement for its relations with "the filthy, deplorable traitors – the cursed ] that are your friends." It added that the Chabad movement has been imbued with "false national sentiment" and criticised the organisation for allowing all Jews to stay in its centres, without differentiating "between good and evil, right and wrong, pure and impure, a Jew and a person who joins another religion, a believer and a heretic." The leaflet also criticised the invitation of Israeli state officials to the funerals of the victims, claiming that they "uttered words of heresy and blasphemy." The leaflet concluded that "the road have taken is the road of death and it leads to doom, assimilation and the uprooting of the Torah."<ref> by Kobi Nahshoni, Ynet News, 15 December 2008.</ref><ref>, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), 15 December 2008.</ref>

Jewish groups often accuse Neturei Karta of selling out their fellow Jews by allying with antisemitic groups and using their appearance at rallies as ].<ref name="Forwardexplainer" />

==Beliefs==
]]]


=== Exile of the Jewish people ===
Among the proofs they brought for this argument was a ]ic 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 ]. 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 ]. 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 ] decision awarding a Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel constitutes the gentiles' permition 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 ] world before and even after ].
Neturei Karta stress what is said in the ] ] ("The Standing Prayer") of ], that because of their sins, the Jewish people went into exile from the ] ("''umipnei chatoeinu golinu meiartzeinu''{{-"}}). Additionally, they maintain the view that any form of forceful recapture of the Land of Israel is a violation of divine will.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} They believe that the restoration of the Land of Israel to the Jews should happen only with the coming of the Messiah, not by ], and some believe that the introduction of less-] Jews would cause problems in the sacred land as defined by the ].<ref>{{Britannica|Neturei-Karta|Neturei Karta|Charles Preston}}</ref>


=== Conditions for a Jewish state ===
===Before the partition of Palestine===
Neturei Karta believes that the ] will usher in a Jewish theocracy to rule over the Land of Israel. The messiah will bring about the ], the ], and a complete return to Torah law.<ref name="Haaretzexplainer" />
Tensions were at their highest between the Zionist and non-Zionist Jewish communities in Palestine in the 1920s, following the assassination of ], a ] poet, former Zionist, and spokesman for ] against the creation of a Jewish State. De Haan was assassinated by the ], the Zionist paramilitary group operating in the country. In November 1970 (and eventually rebroadcast ], ]), a program on Israel radio "zarkor" broadcast a program, that had ], editor of '']'', ], and police officer ] discussing their foreknowledge and role in the assassination. Slutski wrote:


Neturei Karta believe that the exile of the Jews can end only with the arrival of the Messiah, and that human attempts to establish Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel are sinful. In Neturei Karta's view, Zionism is a presumptuous affront against ]. Chief among their arguments against Zionism is the ]ic concept of the so-called ], extracted from the discussion of certain portions of the Bible. It states that a pact consisting of three oaths was made between God, the Jewish people, and the nations of the world, when the Jews were sent into exile. One provision of the pact was that the Jews would not rebel against the non-Jewish world that gave them sanctuary; a second was that they would not immigrate en masse to the ]. In return, the gentile nations promised not to persecute the Jews. By rebelling against this pact, they argued, the Jewish people were engaging in rebellion against God.
:"... he old yishuv refused to surrender and submit to secular domination... when they broke away and formed an independent community... no one disturbed them. Were it not for De Haan, they would have organized their small community devoid of any communal or political significance. De Haan used his connections to move the struggle into the realm of international politics. He aspired to establish a political organization to rival the Zionist movement, which was still then in its infancy and not yet fully established-- this was the danger of de Haan... ], commander of the Haganah received instructions to eliminate the traitor. He relayed orders to ], Haganah commander of Jerusalem, .....I do not want to enter into details, it is extremely unpleasant, but this was an order--- they could not allow him to remain."


The Neturei Karta synagogues follow the customs of the ], due to Neturei Karta's origin within the ] rather than ] branch of ]. Neturei Karta is not a Hasidic but a ] group; they are often mistaken for Hasidim because their style of dress (including a ] on ]) is very similar to that of Hasidim. This style of dress is not unique to Neturei Karta, but is also the style of other Jerusalem Litvaks, such as Rabbi ] and his followers. Furthermore, ], a Hasidic group with a similar anti-Zionist ideology, is often bundled together with Neturei Karta. Typically, the Jerusalem Neturei Karta will keep the customs of the "Old ''Yishuv''{{-"}} of the city of Jerusalem even when living outside of Jerusalem or even when living abroad, as a demonstration of their love for and connection to the Holy Land.
Avraham Tehomi said: "This was not Hecht's decision alone. Someone very important in the country was involved in this... this was a very high level decision ( I hope this does not appear in the broadcast...) He received permission....the time has still not come to reveal the truth...". At which point, interviewer Chaninah Amotz, the producer, piped in "Who ordered this? Can't it be told after 50 years?" Tehomi said, "I do not want to say".


===Relationship with the State of Israel===
Later in the broadcast police officer David Tidhar said: "I regret I was not chosen to liquidate him, my job was to protect those who did..." I moved into the area and waited for the shots... Naturally I appeared on the scene immediately. Since I knew in which direction the gunman had to escape... I directed the police to pursue them ..."
In July 2013, the ] arrested a 46-year-old member of Neturei Karta for allegedly attempting to ] on Israel for ]. As part of a ], the man was sentenced to 4{{fraction|1|2}} years in prison.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jta.org/2014/01/28/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/israeli-neturei-karta-member-sentenced-for-spying-for-iran|title=Israeli Neturei Karta member sentenced for spying for Iran|date=28 January 2014|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=29 January 2014}}</ref> Neturei Karta has denied that he had ever been a member of their group.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nkusa.org/articles/slander.cfm|title = Neturei Karta Statement on Zionist Slander}}</ref>


Neturei Karta's website states that its members "frequently participate in public burning of the Israeli flag." On the Jewish holiday of ], Neturei Karta members have routinely burned Israeli flags in celebrations in cities such as ], ] and ].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nkusa.org/activities/demonstrations/israeliflag.cfm | title=Public burning of the Israeli flag | publisher=NKI International}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Neturei+Karta | title=neturei karta photos | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206124941/http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Neturei+Karta |archivedate=2013-12-06 | first=Sebastian | last=Scheiner | agency=] | date=20 November 2007 | via='']'' Photos}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3856290,00.html | title=Neturei Karta burn Israeli flags in Jerusalem | first=Kobi | last=Nahshoni | publisher=Ynet news | date=2 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/conference-of-presidents-time-to-cut-off-neturei-karta/ | title=Conference of Presidents: Time to cut off Neturei Karta | first=Ron | last=Friedman | newspaper=] | date=4 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.jewishpress.com/news/httpwww-jewishpress-comwp-adminmedia-new-php/2014/01/28/ | title=Neturei Karta Spy for Iran Sentenced to Four Years in Jail | first=Tzvi | last=Ben-Gedalyahu | work=] | date=28 January 2014}}</ref>
The struggle between secular Zionist and religious non-Zionist Jewish communities was gradually won by the secular forces.


While many in Neturei Karta chose to simply ignore the ], this has become more difficult.{{When|date=October 2024}} Some took steps to condemn Israel and bring about its eventual dismantling until the coming of the ]. Chief among these was ], leader of an activist branch of Neturei Karta, who served in ]'s cabinet as Minister for Jewish Affairs.<ref name="MeltonBaumann2010">{{cite book|first1=J. Gordon | last1=Melton|first2=Martin | last2=Baumann|title=Religions of the World, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C&pg=PA2066|access-date=7 January 2013|date=21 September 2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-204-3|page=2066}}</ref>
===1947 - 1967===
The small faction of Orthodox Zionists were the most prominent representatives of Jewish religious communities when the ] voted to partition Palestine on ] - 1947. However, representatives of another Orthodox party, ], actually asked the ] to vote against partition.


==Activities==
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).
===Palestinian advocacy===
Neturei Karta supports a sovereign ] in the present, however, argues for complete Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land upon the arrival of the Messiah.<ref name="Haaretzexplainer" />], 2023]]


In addition to halakhic opposition to the organization of a Jewish state in the Holy Land, Neturei Karta also criticizes Israeli policies of aggression towards Palestinian people, stating that the "brutal treatment of the Palestinian people is in violation of the Torah."<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Our Mission |url=https://www.nkusa.org/aboutus/mission.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204074825/https://www.nkusa.org/aboutus/mission.cfm |archive-date=2021-02-04 |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=Neturei Karta}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023-01-10 |title='We're Palestinian Jews:' Neturei Karta meet with Islamic Jihad leaders |url=https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-728082 |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en-US}}</ref> They have rejected the claim that Israel is democratic, citing what they refer to as racist, genocidal treatment of Palestinians.<ref>{{Cite web |title=We are crying with Palestinians: Jewish anti-Zionist group |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/we-are-crying-with-palestinians-jewish-anti-zionist-group/3038245 |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=www.aa.com.tr}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keren-Kratz |first=Menachem |date=2023 |title=Satmar and Neturei Karta: Jews Against Zionism |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/8/article/896175 |journal=Modern Judaism |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=52–76 |doi=10.1093/mj/kjac023 |issn=1086-3273}}</ref> They call for the return of all Palestinian refugees to "their rightful land" and attribute the degradation of ], as well as the bloodshed of both Arabs and Israeli Jews, to Zionism, claiming that before the creation of Israel, both peoples lived together in peace.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In Support of the Palestinian People |url=https://www.nkusa.org/aboutus/palestine/support.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224022205/https://www.nkusa.org/aboutus/palestine/support.cfm |archive-date=2021-02-24 |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=Neturei Karta}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
This switch of allegiance by Agudath Israel caused a radical shift in the ideology of Neturei Karta, which felt betrayed by their Orthodox allies.


Almost a year after the ], a group of Neturei Karta members crossed into ] as part of the ] to celebrate Jewish '']'' and show support for Palestinians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/anti-zionist-ultra-orthodox-jews-celebrate-sabbath-in-gaza-1.265558 |date=1 January 2010 |title= Anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate Sabbath in Gaza|work=Haaretz}}</ref><ref> Associated Press, Published: 01.01.10, www.ynetnews.com</ref>
Their opposition to Israel and Zionism became all the more extreme, especially under the leadership of Rabbi ] and his wife, a convert and former member of the ], who had rescued Blau during ].


In January 2023, three members of Neturei Karta met with prominent ] (PIJ) officials and families of Palestinian militants during a visit to the ]. The Neturei Karta members also visited the home of Bassam al-Saadi, who was jailed by Israel for PIJ leadership activities.<ref>{{cite news |date=2023-01-10 |title=Anti-Zionist Haredi sect members visit Jenin, meet terror-linked Palestinians |work=Times of Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/anti-zionist-haredi-sect-members-visit-jenin-meet-terror-linked-palestinians/ |access-date=9 October 2023}}</ref> Upon their return to Israel, Israeli authorities arrested two of the Neturei Karta members for unlawful entry to ] of the West Bank.<ref>{{cite news |date=2023-01-17 |title=Police arrest second Neturei Karta man who met Palestinian terrorists in Jenin |work=Jewish News Syndicate |url=https://www.jns.org/police-arrest-second-neturei-karta-man-who-met-palestinian-terrorists-in-jenin/ |access-date=9 October 2023}}</ref> The Satmar rebbe publicly denounced the group for their conduct, remarking in his speech that "It is a terrible desecration of God's name to support murderers in the name of the holy Torah and God's name."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-13 |title='A terrible desecration of God's name' - Satmar Rebbe condemns anti-Israel protesters |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-773037 |website=Jerusalem Post}}</ref>
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 ] group ], under the leadership of Rabbi ], formerly of ] and later of ], as well as other Hasidic groups, some in Israel and others in the ].


Neturei Karta asserts that the mass media deliberately downplays their viewpoint and makes them out to be few in number. Their protests in America are usually attended by, at most, a few dozen people. In Israel, the group's protests typically attract several hundred participants, depending on the nature of the protest and its location.<ref>Connections Magazine "In 'Honor' of Yom Haatzmaut: A Few RBS Haredim Wore Sackcloth and Hung Palestinian Flags" Temura, 1 May 2006</ref>
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 '']'' 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.


During the 2023 ], Neturei Karta regularly participated in pro-Palestinian protests, castigating Israel in harsh terms. The bulk of the group's statements at the protests do not reference its halakhic opposition to Israel, but publicly appear close to the views of left-wing American Jewish groups such as ] and ].<ref name="Forwardexplainer" />
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 - ] and ] are acceptable, ] and ] 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 ] 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=== ===Relations with Iran===
In October 2005, Neturei Karta leader Rabbi ] issued a statement criticising Jewish attacks on ]ian President ]. 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 ], who always emphasized and practiced the respect and protection of Jews and Judaism."<ref> (NKUSA) 28 October 2005.</ref>
While many in Neturei Karta chose to simply ignore the ], this became more difficult as Jerusalem began to be dominated by Zionist concerns and debates.
]
A fringe element took proactive steps to condemn Israel and bring about its eventual dismantling until the coming of the ]. Chief among these is Rabbi ], Neturei Karta's self-proclaimed "Foreign Minister", author of the popular prayer book ''Siddur Vilna'', who served in ]'s cabinet as Minister for Jewish Affairs.
Hirsch and his followers oppose Israel on religious grounds, rejecting Jews who promote Zionism and the State of Israel as ]. They maintain that an Orthodox community of Jews can and should be a viable minority in an ]-controlled Palestinian state.


In March 2006, several members of a Neturei Karta's faction visited ], where they met with Iranian leaders, including the vice-president, and praised Ahmadinejad for calling for the "Zionist regime" occupying Jerusalem to vanish from the pages of time. The spokesmen commented that they shared Ahmadinejad's aspiration for "a disintegration of the Israeli government".<ref>{{cite news|last=Freund|first=Michael|url=https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Neturei-Karta-sect-pays-visit-to-Iran|title=Neturei Karta Sect Pays Visit to Iran|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=6 March 2006|access-date=4 January 2019}}</ref> 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 ...".<ref> by Roee Nahmias (]) 12 March 2006</ref>
Hirsch notes that there is a striking accord between the views of Neturei Karta and those of ], which is the dominant party in the present ]: both seek to distinguish ] from ], both favour a secular and non-] government in Palestine. He has also sought refugee status at the UN for Neturei Karta. There is in his view no difference between a people that was "pushed out of its land and one like ourselves whose land is being wrenched from under it by the Zionists."
]
In America, the Neturei Karta are lead by Rabbi Moshe Ber Beck of ], a well known political and charity activist who gained fame by meeting with ] leader Minister ], at a time when Farrakhan had been widely condemned by American Jewish organizations for Anti-semitic remarks such as calling Judaism "a gutter religion."


==== Iranian conference on Holocaust denial in Tehran ====
Neturei Karta leaders have also made the headlines in Europe. In ], Rabbi Moishe Aryeh Friedman allied himself with neo-Nazi politicians such as Ewald Stadler and John Gudenus, who has engaged in ]. The Neturei Karta and the Austrian far right have a common cause, that of dismantling the Jewish community in Austria.
In December 2006, members of Neturei Karta, including Yisroel Dovid Weiss, attended the ], a controversial conference held in ], ] that attracted a number of high-profile ].<ref name="BBC"> 12 December, ] 2006</ref>


In his speech, Weiss explained that the occurrence of the Nazi Holocaust was irrefutable and spoke about the murder of his own grandparents at Auschwitz, but claimed that Zionists had "collaborated with the Nazis" and "thwarted...efforts to save...Jews" and expressed solidarity with the Iranian position of ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nkusa.org/activities/speeches/2006iran-weissspeech.cfm|title=Speech by Rabbi Y. D. Weiss, Tehran Conference|last=Weiss|first=Yisroel|date=12 December 2006|website=Neturei Karta International|access-date=2018-09-05}}</ref> ], the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel, immediately called for those who went to Tehran to be put into ']', a form of ex-communication.<ref name = "YNet"> (]) 14 December 2006.</ref> Subsequently, the ] court called on Jews "to keep away from them and condemn their actions".<ref> (]) 15 December 2006</ref>
In the UK, Rabbi Yosef Goldstein testified on behalf of ] of the ], known colloquially as Captain Hook, 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."


On 21 December, the ] of Jerusalem also released a statement calling on the public to distance itself from those who went to Iran. The Edah's statement followed, in major lines, the Satmar statement released a few days earlier.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517025621/http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13452 |date=2011-05-17 }} ('']'') 22 December 2006</ref> In January 2007, a group of protesters stood outside the Neturei Karta synagogue in ], demanding that they leave Monsey and move to Iran. Neturei Karta and their supporters from Monsey's Orthodox community responded with a counter-protest.<ref name="Anti Neturei Karta protest">{{cite web|url=http://www.nkusa.org/activities/demonstrations/20070107.cfm|publisher=Neturei Karta International|title=Anti Neturei Karta protest}}</ref>
Neturei Karta members have recently paid a visit to ] where they praised the Iranian President and endorsed his statements on Israel and the Holocaust.


==Condemnation== ==Factionalism==
]]]
Because members of Neturei Karta participated in a prayer vigil for ] outside the ] in ], ], where he lay on his death bed, the group was condemned by many Orthodox and ] Jewish organizations, including, but not limited to:
In the ], the Neturei Karta were led by ] of ] until his death in 2021. They affiliate with the radical branch that was led by Moshe Hirsch. Beck had courted controversy by meeting with ] leader Minister ],<ref> by Saeed Shabazz (]) 11 January 2000.</ref><ref name="Levenson2012" /> who has been accused of inciting ] and of describing ] as a "gutter religion" (Farrakhan says his words were misinterpreted).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.noi.org/statements/rift/Wanniski12-22-1997.htm|title=Minister Farrakhan rebuts fraudulent "Judaism is a Gutter Religion" canard|date=22 December 1997|publisher=The Nation of Islam}}</ref> In addition, after meeting with the representatives from Neturei Karta, Farrakhan indicated he would be more cautious in his choice of words in the future.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060906100523/http://www.nkusa.org/Books/Publications/exileandredemption.cfm |date=2006-09-06 }} by a Friend of Neturei Karta (NKUSA) February, 2000.</ref>


], ]]]
Anshei Sfard; ]; ]; Emunas Yisroel; ]; Belz; Bnei Yehuda, Nitra; ]; ]; Vien; ]; ]; Novominsk; Torah Temimah; ]; ] - Monroe; ]; Young Israel of Brooklyn; Cong. Shomrei Shabbos; United ] Organizations of ]; ]; ] 14th&nbsp;Avenue; United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg; Boro Park Jewish Council; Debrecin; US&nbsp;Friends of the Eida Charedis; ].


===''Sikrikim''===
In their joint press release, the critics stated:
A radical breakaway faction<ref name="guardian">{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/19/jerusalem-bookshop-targeted-extremists | title=Jerusalem bookshop targeted by 'mafia-like' extremists | work=] | date=19 September 2011 | access-date=18 January 2013 | author=Browne, Luke}}</ref> called '']'' is based in Israel, mainly in ] and ]. The group's engagement in acts of vandalism, "]-like intimidation" and violent protests caused several people, including authority figures, to push for officially labeling them as a ], along with Neturei Karta.<ref name="ynn1">{{cite news | url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3960241,00.html | title=MK wants Neturei Karta classified as terrorists | work=] | date=10 March 2010 | access-date=18 January 2013 | author=Galahar, Ari}}</ref><ref name="ynn2">{{cite news | url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4181802,00.html | title=ZAKA founder slams haredi violence | work=Ynetnews | date=3 March 2012 | access-date=18 January 2013}}</ref>


==See also==
: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.
*]


==References==
:These nefarious associates of ]'s enemies have unfortunately again succeeded in their crazed hunger for publicity and are being depicted in local and international media &mdash; outfitted in their religious attire &mdash; bewailing the impending demise of a mass-murderer &mdash; side-by-side with Palestinian Jew-haters. The shame and embarrassment to decent religious Jews worldwide is unbearable.
{{Notelist}}{{Reflist}}


==Further reading==
Although there has been previous criticism from Orthodox circles, this was one of the most forceful condemnations. Particularly notable was the condemnation by the much larger ] ] movement, which had been allied with Neturei Karta, as there were ideological parallels in their beliefs ''vis à vis'' Zionism.


* ], ''A Threat from Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism''. (Zed Books/Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) {{ISBN|1-84277-699-1}}
==Notes==
* Menashe Darash, ''Neturei Karta Of Meah Shearim''. Atnata 2010 {{ISBN|978-965-91505-0-2}} (Hebrew language)
* {{note|araf_ap17}}
* {{note|55k}} Amir Rappaport. ''Arafat transferred funds to Neturei Karta: Captured PA documents reveal that $55,000 given to leader of the anti-Zionist sect''. ], 2 April 2004.


==External links== ==External links==
* {{Commons category|Neturei Karta}}
* {{official website|http://www.nkusa.org/|Neturei Karta International}}
*
* *
* ]
*
*]. ''Washington Report on Middle East Affairs''.
*, '']''.
*, '']''.
*


{{OrthodoxJudaism}}


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Latest revision as of 09:06, 27 December 2024

Anti-Zionist Haredi Jewish religious group

Neturei Karta
נָטוֹרֵי קַרְתָּא‎
Members of Neturei Karta at a pro-Palestinian rally in the United Kingdom, 2005
Formation1938; 86 years ago (1938)
Founded atJerusalem, British Mandate for Palestine
TypeINGO and Haredi sect
PurposeAnti-Zionism
Location
OriginsAgudat Yisrael
Region Worldwide
ProductsHahuma
Membership1000-2000 (estimated c. 2007)
Official language Yiddish, Hebrew, English, Aramaic
SpokesmanYisroel Dovid Weiss
Key peopleMoshe Ber Beck (d. 2021)
AffiliationsHaredi Judaism
Websitehttps://www.nkusa.org/
Neturei Karta synagogue and study hall in Jerusalem

Neturei Karta (Aramaic: נָטוֹרֵי קַרְתָּא, romanized: nāṭōrē qartāʾ, lit.'Guardians of the City') is an anti-Zionist and pro-Palestine Haredi Jewish group.

Founded in Jerusalem in 1937 by Amram Blau and Aharon Katzenelbogen, Neturei Karta was formed as an offshoot of the Aguda movement. Aguda, representing the most devout of the Haredi Jewish community in the Old Yishuv, was opposed to the secular orientation and nationalism of political Zionism, which the religiously devout members of Aguda believed represented a threat to their way of life and was a rejection of Torah law. However, Blau and Neturei Karta disagreed with Aguda's accommodationist stance to Zionism in the 1930s in response to European antisemitism.

Neturei Karta believes that the Messiah will usher in a Jewish theocracy to rule over the Land of Israel. The messiah will bring about the resurrection of the dead, the ingathering of the exiles, and a complete return to Torah law. The group, numbering in the low thousands, does not recognize the modern State of Israel, and since the 1960s has pursued relationships with entities who seek the destruction of Israel, such as allies in the Arab world and Iran. It does not support a separate Palestinian state.

The group's views are considered fringe, even within Haredi Jewish circles. Particularly, Neturei Karta's relationship with Iran and its attendance at the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust drew condemnation from other Orthodox Jewish movements.

Etymology

The name Neturei Karta means "city guards" in Aramaic and is derived from an aggadta recorded in several Talmudic texts, including y. Hagigah 1:7. There, it is related that:

Judah the Prince sent rabbis to tour the cities of Israel and establish for them teachers and scribes. They came to one place and did not find a teacher or a scribe. They said, "Bring us the city guards," and the city watchmen were brought. They said, "These are the city ruiners, but those are the city guards." And who were the city guards? The scribes and the teachers, who guard the Torah day and night.

The name thus reflects Neturei Karta's original mission to oppose efforts in the Old Yishuv to establish an armed force during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt, arguing that such a force would be destructive and that Torah scholars are the true guards. Today, the Neturei Karta understand it to mean that they defend their interpretation of Halakha against that of other rabbis who support the State of Israel.

History

Further information: Haredim and Zionism

Pre-Modern State of Israel

In the Old Yishuv under the Ottoman Empire, the religious Jewish communities primarily concentrated in the Jewish holy cities of Jerusalem, Safed, Hebron, and Tiberias largely eschewed the secular orientation of political Zionism, which they saw as a potential threat to their way of life. They resented the new arrivals, who were predominantly non-religious, while they asserted that Jewish redemption could be brought about only by the Jewish messiah.

In 1921, some of the most devout of the Ashkenazi Old Yishuv formed the Haredi Council of Jerusalem as a counterpoint to the Chief Rabbinate, created by the British Mandatory Palestine government. The Haredi saw the rabbinate as a capitulation to the secular Zionists and their nationalist aspirations.

The Aguda movement represented by the Haredi Council opposed the formation of a Jewish political state in the Land of Israel and discouraged its European members from immigrating to Palestine. However, in the 1930s, the movement adopted a more compromising and accommodationist approach to the Zionist movement in response to rising antisemitism in Europe. Aguda's leniency was too much for Rabbi Amram Blau, active in Aguda's Jerusalem chapter. Along with Rabbi Aharon Katzenelbogen, Blau split with the Aguda in 1937 and co-founded Chevrat HaChayim, quickly renamed Neturei Karta.

Members of Neturei Karta at the Quds Day protests in Berlin 2014

Modern State of Israel

After the creation of the modern State of Israel in 1948, Neturei Karta refused to recognize the Israeli government or any of its institutions. The group began holding public protests that often turned violent over what they perceived as the secularization of Jerusalem, the violation of Shabbat in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, and public gender mixing.

After the Six Day War, Neturei Karta began cultivating friendly relationships in the Arab world. In 1969, the group protested Israel outside the United Nations, then in 1970 held a similar protest with the new Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Then Neturei Karta leader Moshe Hirsch befriended PLO leader Yasir Arafat, who many Israelis viewed as their public enemy number one. Arafat appointed Hirsch to the symbolic position of Jewish affairs minister, receiving a $30,000 monthly salary. Two Neturei Karta members participated in a 2004 prayer vigil for Arafat outside the Percy Military Hospital in Paris, France, where he lay on his death bed, an act widely condemned by other Orthodox Jewish organizations, including many other anti-Zionist Haredi organizations, both in New York and Jerusalem. Hirsh attended Arafat's funeral in Ramallah.

Members

Generally, members of Neturei Karta are descendants of Hungarian Jews and Lithuanian Jews who were students of the Gaon of Vilna (known as Perushim) who had settled in Jerusalem in the early nineteenth century. In the late nineteenth century, their ancestors 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. Members of the Malachim are also prominently represented within Neturei Karta.

Neturei Karta is notoriously vague about its size, and there are no official population statistics available, in 1971, it was reported to consist of several hundred families in Israel and throughout the diaspora. As recently as 2007, the group was reported to have a few thousand members. Haaretz estimated in 2024 that the group had a membership in the low thousands, predominantly in Israel, but also in diaspora locations with large populations of ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Relationship with other Jewish movements

The group's strong anti-Zionist stance and controversial tactics place Neturei Karta on the fringe, even in Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox circles. Other movements, including anti-Zionist sects like the Satmar, have disavowed Neturei Karta and condemned its activities. The Satmar movement criticized Neturei Karta for attending the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Tehran in 2006. During the Israel-Hamas war, Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum, one of the two Grand Rebbes of Satmar, condemned Neturei Karta, calling the group's support for Hamas "a terrible desecration of God's name to support murderers in the name of the holy Torah and God's name." Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Jacobson, a leading Chabad rabbi condemned Neturei Karta and described their actions as "like somebody marching with Hitler."

One of the targets of the 2008 Mumbai attacks was the Nariman House, which was operated by the Jewish Chabad movement. Neturei Karta subsequently issued a leaflet criticising the Chabad movement for its relations with "the filthy, deplorable traitors – the cursed Zionists that are your friends." It added that the Chabad movement has been imbued with "false national sentiment" and criticised the organisation for allowing all Jews to stay in its centres, without differentiating "between good and evil, right and wrong, pure and impure, a Jew and a person who joins another religion, a believer and a heretic." The leaflet also criticised the invitation of Israeli state officials to the funerals of the victims, claiming that they "uttered words of heresy and blasphemy." The leaflet concluded that "the road have taken is the road of death and it leads to doom, assimilation and the uprooting of the Torah."

Jewish groups often accuse Neturei Karta of selling out their fellow Jews by allying with antisemitic groups and using their appearance at rallies as token Jews.

Beliefs

Neturei Karta members at an event in Boston, Massachusetts

Exile of the Jewish people

Neturei Karta stress what is said in the mussaf Shemona Esrei ("The Standing Prayer") of Yom Tov, that because of their sins, the Jewish people went into exile from the Land of Israel ("umipnei chatoeinu golinu meiartzeinu"). Additionally, they maintain the view that any form of forceful recapture of the Land of Israel is a violation of divine will. They believe that the restoration of the Land of Israel to the Jews should happen only with the coming of the Messiah, not by self-determination, and some believe that the introduction of less-observant Jews would cause problems in the sacred land as defined by the Torah.

Conditions for a Jewish state

Neturei Karta believes that the Messiah will usher in a Jewish theocracy to rule over the Land of Israel. The messiah will bring about the resurrection of the dead, the ingathering of the exiles, and a complete return to Torah law.

Neturei Karta believe that the exile of the Jews can end only with the arrival of the Messiah, and that human attempts to establish Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel are sinful. In Neturei Karta's view, Zionism is a presumptuous affront against God. Chief among their arguments against Zionism is the Talmudic concept of the so-called Three Oaths, extracted from the discussion of certain portions of the Bible. It states that a pact consisting of three oaths was made between God, the Jewish people, and the nations of the world, when the Jews were sent into exile. One provision of the pact was that the Jews would not rebel against the non-Jewish world that gave them sanctuary; a second was that they would not immigrate en masse to the Land of Israel. In return, the gentile nations promised not to persecute the Jews. By rebelling against this pact, they argued, the Jewish people were engaging in rebellion against God.

The Neturei Karta synagogues follow the customs of the Gaon of Vilna, due to Neturei Karta's origin within the Lithuanian rather than Hasidic branch of Haredi Judaism. Neturei Karta is not a Hasidic but a Litvish group; they are often mistaken for Hasidim because their style of dress (including a shtreimel on Shabbos) is very similar to that of Hasidim. This style of dress is not unique to Neturei Karta, but is also the style of other Jerusalem Litvaks, such as Rabbi Yosef Sholom Eliashiv and his followers. Furthermore, Shomer Emunim, a Hasidic group with a similar anti-Zionist ideology, is often bundled together with Neturei Karta. Typically, the Jerusalem Neturei Karta will keep the customs of the "Old Yishuv" of the city of Jerusalem even when living outside of Jerusalem or even when living abroad, as a demonstration of their love for and connection to the Holy Land.

Relationship with the State of Israel

In July 2013, the Shin Bet arrested a 46-year-old member of Neturei Karta for allegedly attempting to spy on Israel for Iran. As part of a plea deal, the man was sentenced to 41⁄2 years in prison. Neturei Karta has denied that he had ever been a member of their group.

Neturei Karta's website states that its members "frequently participate in public burning of the Israeli flag." On the Jewish holiday of Purim, Neturei Karta members have routinely burned Israeli flags in celebrations in cities such as London, Brooklyn and Jerusalem.

While many in Neturei Karta chose to simply ignore the State of Israel, this has become more difficult. Some took steps to condemn Israel and bring about its eventual dismantling until the coming of the Messiah. Chief among these was Moshe Hirsch, leader of an activist branch of Neturei Karta, who served in Yasser Arafat's cabinet as Minister for Jewish Affairs.

Activities

Palestinian advocacy

Neturei Karta supports a sovereign Palestinian state in the present, however, argues for complete Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land upon the arrival of the Messiah.

Neturei Karta at the National March on Washington: Free Palestine, 2023

In addition to halakhic opposition to the organization of a Jewish state in the Holy Land, Neturei Karta also criticizes Israeli policies of aggression towards Palestinian people, stating that the "brutal treatment of the Palestinian people is in violation of the Torah." They have rejected the claim that Israel is democratic, citing what they refer to as racist, genocidal treatment of Palestinians. They call for the return of all Palestinian refugees to "their rightful land" and attribute the degradation of Jewish-Muslim relations, as well as the bloodshed of both Arabs and Israeli Jews, to Zionism, claiming that before the creation of Israel, both peoples lived together in peace.

Almost a year after the Gaza War, a group of Neturei Karta members crossed into Gaza as part of the Gaza Freedom March to celebrate Jewish Shabbos and show support for Palestinians.

In January 2023, three members of Neturei Karta met with prominent Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) officials and families of Palestinian militants during a visit to the Jenin refugee camp. The Neturei Karta members also visited the home of Bassam al-Saadi, who was jailed by Israel for PIJ leadership activities. Upon their return to Israel, Israeli authorities arrested two of the Neturei Karta members for unlawful entry to Area A of the West Bank. The Satmar rebbe publicly denounced the group for their conduct, remarking in his speech that "It is a terrible desecration of God's name to support murderers in the name of the holy Torah and God's name."

Neturei Karta asserts that the mass media deliberately downplays their viewpoint and makes them out to be few in number. Their protests in America are usually attended by, at most, a few dozen people. In Israel, the group's protests typically attract several hundred participants, depending on the nature of the protest and its location.

During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Neturei Karta regularly participated in pro-Palestinian protests, castigating Israel in harsh terms. The bulk of the group's statements at the protests do not reference its halakhic opposition to Israel, but publicly appear close to the views of left-wing American Jewish groups such as IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace.

Relations with Iran

In October 2005, Neturei Karta leader Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss issued a statement criticising 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 members of a Neturei Karta's faction visited Iran, where they met with Iranian leaders, including the vice-president, and praised Ahmadinejad for calling for the "Zionist regime" occupying Jerusalem to vanish from the pages of time. The spokesmen commented that they shared Ahmadinejad's aspiration for "a disintegration of the Israeli government". 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 ...".

Iranian conference on Holocaust denial in Tehran

In December 2006, members of Neturei Karta, including Yisroel Dovid Weiss, attended the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust, a controversial conference held in Tehran, Iran that attracted a number of high-profile Holocaust deniers.

In his speech, Weiss explained that the occurrence of the Nazi Holocaust was irrefutable and spoke about the murder of his own grandparents at Auschwitz, but claimed that Zionists had "collaborated with the Nazis" and "thwarted...efforts to save...Jews" and expressed solidarity with the Iranian position of anti-Zionism. Yonah Metzger, the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel, immediately called for those who went to Tehran to be put into 'cherem', a form of ex-communication. Subsequently, the Satmar Hassidism court called on Jews "to keep away from them and condemn their actions".

On 21 December, the Edah HaChareidis rabbinical council of Jerusalem also released a statement calling on the public to distance itself from those who went to Iran. The Edah's statement followed, in major lines, the Satmar statement released a few days earlier. In January 2007, a group of protesters stood outside the Neturei Karta synagogue in Monsey, New York, demanding that they leave Monsey and move to Iran. Neturei Karta and their supporters from Monsey's Orthodox community responded with a counter-protest.

Factionalism

Condemnation poster, or pashkvil

In the United States, the Neturei Karta were led by Moshe Ber Beck of Monsey, New York until his death in 2021. They affiliate with the radical branch that was led by Moshe Hirsch. Beck had courted controversy by meeting with Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan, who has been accused of inciting antisemitism and of describing Judaism as a "gutter religion" (Farrakhan says his words were misinterpreted). In addition, after meeting with the representatives from Neturei Karta, Farrakhan indicated he would be more cautious in his choice of words in the future.

On 7 September 2006, in Trafalgar Square, London

Sikrikim

A radical breakaway faction called Sikrikim is based in Israel, mainly in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh. The group's engagement in acts of vandalism, "mafia-like intimidation" and violent protests caused several people, including authority figures, to push for officially labeling them as a terrorist group, along with Neturei Karta.

See also

References

  1. In the Yerushalmi and Midrash Tehillim: Hiyya, Immi, and Assi. In Pesiqta deRav Kehana, Immi and Jose. In Eichah Rabbah, Immi and Assi. Meiri (to Shabbat 114a) recalls "one of their sages". Eliezer ben Joel HaLevi (Hagigah 10a) recalls "Hiyya and Jose".
  2. In the Yerushalmi apparently corrupt: "Bring us the city guards, bring us the watchmen." Other versions (including the Arukh citation) are as presented. The word סנטרי "watchmen" is Lat. saltarii; see D. Sperber, "On Pubs and Policemen in Roman Palestine" p. 259, S. Lieberman to t. BM 9:14, and Sokoloff, p. 383-384.
  3. Here the Arukh appears to preserve the best text, which is presented. In the Yerushalmi and Midrash Tehillim, "These are the city guards!? These are nothing but city ruiners!" In the Pesiqta deRav Kehana and Eichah Rabbah, "These are city guards, these are the city ruiners."
  4. At this point each version cites a Biblical verse in support, including Ps. 127:1, Josh. 1:8, or both. The Zohar (Bo 6:143) has a different interpretation of this aggadta.
  1. "Neturei Karta Leader Moshe Ber Beck Dies In Monsey". The Yeshiva World. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  2. ^ Sources describing the group as fringe:
  3. ^ "Explained: Who Are Neturei Karta, the Jewish ultra-Orthodox pro-Palestinian Activists". Haaretz. 27 March 2024. Archived from the original on 30 June 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  4. Inbari, Motti (2010). "Rabbi Amram Blau Founder of the Neturei Karta Movement: An Abridged Biography". Hebrew Union College Annual. 81: 193–232. ISSN 0360-9049. JSTOR 23509957.
  5. "What is the Neturei Karta?". nkusa.org. Archived from the original on 19 January 2007.
  6. Rabbi Amram Blau Founder of the Neturei Karta Movement: An Abridged Biography. Motti Inbari, Hebrew Union College Annual, Vol. 81 (2010), pp. 11-12.
  7. Elaine Sciolino (11 November 2004). "Arafat's Followers Kept Solemn Vigil Outside Hospital in France". New York Times. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  8. ^ Fox, Mira (22 November 2023). "What is Neturei Karta, the Orthodox group at all the pro-Palestinian protests?". The Forward. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  9. Lamm, Norman (1971). "THE IDEOLOGY OF THE NETUREI KARTA: According to the Satmarer Version". Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought. 12 (2): 38–53. ISSN 0041-0608. JSTOR 23257379.
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  11. In a state over Israel by Simon Rocker (The Guardian) 25 November 2002
  12. ^ Alan T. Levenson (12 March 2012). The Wiley-Blackwell History of Jews and Judaism. John Wiley & Sons. p. 455. ISBN 978-1-118-23293-4. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
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  14. Neturei Karta: Chabad punished for alliance with Zionists by Kobi Nahshoni, Ynet News, 15 December 2008.
  15. Leaflet: Mumbai Chabad attack ‘God's punishment', Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), 15 December 2008.
  16. Charles Preston, Neturei Karta at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  17. "Israeli Neturei Karta member sentenced for spying for Iran". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  18. "Neturei Karta Statement on Zionist Slander".
  19. "Public burning of the Israeli flag". NKI International.
  20. Scheiner, Sebastian (20 November 2007). "neturei karta photos". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 6 December 2013 – via USA Today Photos.
  21. Nahshoni, Kobi (2 March 2010). "Neturei Karta burn Israeli flags in Jerusalem". Ynet news.
  22. Friedman, Ron (4 April 2012). "Conference of Presidents: Time to cut off Neturei Karta". Times of Israel.
  23. Ben-Gedalyahu, Tzvi (28 January 2014). "Neturei Karta Spy for Iran Sentenced to Four Years in Jail". Jewish Press.
  24. Melton, J. Gordon; Baumann, Martin (21 September 2010). Religions of the World, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. ABC-CLIO. p. 2066. ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  25. "Our Mission". Neturei Karta. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  26. ^ "'We're Palestinian Jews:' Neturei Karta meet with Islamic Jihad leaders". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  27. "We are crying with Palestinians: Jewish anti-Zionist group". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  28. Keren-Kratz, Menachem (2023). "Satmar and Neturei Karta: Jews Against Zionism". Modern Judaism. 43 (1): 52–76. doi:10.1093/mj/kjac023. ISSN 1086-3273.
  29. "In Support of the Palestinian People". Neturei Karta. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  30. "Anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate Sabbath in Gaza". Haaretz. 1 January 2010.
  31. "Ultra-Orthodox Jews make rare visit to Gaza," Associated Press, Published: 01.01.10, www.ynetnews.com
  32. "Anti-Zionist Haredi sect members visit Jenin, meet terror-linked Palestinians". Times of Israel. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  33. "Police arrest second Neturei Karta man who met Palestinian terrorists in Jenin". Jewish News Syndicate. 17 January 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  34. "'A terrible desecration of God's name' - Satmar Rebbe condemns anti-Israel protesters". Jerusalem Post. 13 November 2023.
  35. Connections Magazine "In 'Honor' of Yom Haatzmaut: A Few RBS Haredim Wore Sackcloth and Hung Palestinian Flags" Temura, 1 May 2006
  36. The Orthodox Jewish response to the criticism of the Iranian President (statement for Al Q'uds Day) (NKUSA) 28 October 2005.
  37. Freund, Michael (6 March 2006). "Neturei Karta Sect Pays Visit to Iran". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  38. Neturei Karta in Iran: Zionists use Holocaust by Roee Nahmias (YNetNews) 12 March 2006
  39. Why are Jews at the 'Holocaust denial' conference? 12 December, BBC 2006
  40. Weiss, Yisroel (12 December 2006). "Speech by Rabbi Y. D. Weiss, Tehran Conference". Neturei Karta International. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  41. Rabbi Metzger: Boycott Neturei Karta participants of Iran conference (YNetNews) 14 December 2006.
  42. Satmar court slams Neturei Karta (YNetNews) 15 December 2006
  43. Black Eye For Black Hats After Tehran Hate Fest Archived 2011-05-17 at the Wayback Machine (The Jewish Week) 22 December 2006
  44. "Anti Neturei Karta protest". Neturei Karta International.
  45. Third meeting held between Nation of Islam and rabbis by Saeed Shabazz (Final Call) 11 January 2000.
  46. "Minister Farrakhan rebuts fraudulent "Judaism is a Gutter Religion" canard". The Nation of Islam. 22 December 1997.
  47. Exile and Redemption: The Torah Approach Archived 2006-09-06 at the Wayback Machine by a Friend of Neturei Karta (NKUSA) February, 2000.
  48. Browne, Luke (19 September 2011). "Jerusalem bookshop targeted by 'mafia-like' extremists". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  49. Galahar, Ari (10 March 2010). "MK wants Neturei Karta classified as terrorists". Ynetnews. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  50. "ZAKA founder slams haredi violence". Ynetnews. 3 March 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2013.

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