Neturei Karta - Why Do These Jews Oppose Israel? with Rabbi Michael Skobac
Why would a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews publicly oppose the State of Israel and align themselves with movements hostile to it? Who are Neturei Karta, and what drives their anti-Zionist ideology?
In this lecture, Rabbi Michael Skobac examines the origins, religious philosophy, and controversial political activities of Neturei Karta, a small radical Jewish group known for its opposition to Zionism and the modern State of Israel.
The lecture concludes with footage from Toronto's 2019 UJA Walk with Israel, showing Neturei Karta members marching alongside anti-Israel activists under police protection. Jews for Judaism had an educational booth nearby, distributing Israel advocacy and counter-missionary literature.
In this lecture, you'll learn: • The origins and beliefs of Neturei Karta • The religious arguments used to oppose Zionism and Israel • The group's controversial political alliances and public activities • Why understanding this fringe movement matters when discussing Jewish identity and Israel
Important take away:
In this lecture Rabbi Skobac makes it very clear that Neturei Karta is a very small fringe movement offering its endorsement to anti-Israel entities of all types, from the nation of Iran to the PLO.
Neturei Karta’s positions and approach to the modern State of Israel should not be treated as representative of Orthodox Jews generally, but they should be regarded as a very small fringe group that makes a lot of noise and has high visibility when needed to serve the purposes of Israel’s opponents.
Rabbi Michael Skobac is the Director of Education and Counselling for Jews for Judaism, an organization dedicated to Jewish education and Counter-Missionary Outreach, with a worldwide audience through its popular YouTube channel.
Rabbi Michael Skobac has 45 years of experience in Jewish education and outreach. He is a leading expert in Jewish-Christian dialogue and has helped thousands of people navigate complex theological questions about the Messiah, Bible, and faith. Rabbi Skobac has been the Director of Education and Counselling for Jews for Judaism (Canada) since 1991.
About JEWS FOR JUDAISM:
Jews for Judaism is a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to strengthening Jewish identity through Jewish education and outreach. We provide intellectually serious resources on Torah, Jewish philosophy, spirituality, ethics, Israel advocacy, and contemporary religious challenges, equipping Jews to deepen their understanding of their heritage and respond thoughtfully to religious claims that challenge authentic Judaism, including those advanced by Christian missionary groups.
Since 1989, Jews for Judaism has been a trailblazer in global Jewish outreach. Jews for Judaism wins back to Judaism those Jews who have been influenced by these Seven Threats to Jewish Survival: • Christian Missionaries convert 1,000’s of Jews worldwide annually • Destructive Cults induce Jews to abandon family, friends & careers • Eastern Religions are now the spiritual choices for many Jews • Jewish apathy and ignorance cause Jews to abandon assimilate • Intermarriage is exploding worldwide at 75% rate in many locales • Anti-Israel lies brainwash millions & destroy Jewish support for Israel • Antisemitism and Jew-Hatred alienates Jews from Judaism
JEWS FOR JUDAISM strengthens and preserves Jewish lives through its worldwide Internet outreach, social media, free educational programs and counselling services that connect Jewish people to the spiritual depth, beauty and wisdom of Judaism.
Neturei Karta is a radical fringe group of Orthodox Jews who vehemently oppose Zionism and the State of Israel. Founded by Rabbi Amram Blau after breaking away from Agudat Yisrael, the group believes that a Jewish state can only be established by the Messiah. They are widely condemned by the Jewish community for collaborating with anti-Semitic leaders and terrorist organizations.
Neturei Karta is a radical, fringe,
Orthodox Jewish group that is stridently against Zionism
and vehemently opposed to the State of Israel.
Prior to the establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948,
the major Orthodox Jewish
organization in Palestine was the Agudat Yisrael.
That was the umbrella organization of virtually all.
Rabbinic leaders and religious Jews in the land of Palestine.
They were not really enthusiastic about establishing
a secular Jewish state,
but once it was going to be established, once it was a fait accompli,
and it became a reality,
Agudat Yisrael decided to participate
in the state to become part of the government.
In order to advance and ensure the interests of Judaism
and of religious Jews.
However, Rabbi Amram Blau believed
that Agudat Yisrael sold out to the Zionists,
and he broke away from the Agudat Yisrael and founded Neturei Karta,
which means Guardians of the City.
And they believe that they are the only true guardians
of authentic Judaism today.
At the heart of Neturei Karta's philosophy is the belief
that the Jewish people today are in exile because of our sins,
and that we are destined to suffer until God sends
the Messiah to redeem us.
In the interim, we have to remain stateless.
Living under the rule of whatever country hosts us.
Neturei Karta believe that the state of Israel must be dismantled,
that reparations must be made to the Palestinians,
and that Jews who choose to remain there will have
to live under Palestinian rule.
Of course, this group is entitled to their beliefs.
That goes without saying.
But what has made them persona non grata
to literally everyone else in the Jewish community
are their venal activities.
They refer to the founding of the state of Israel as Nakba,
which is the Arabic word
meaning catastrophe that's used by Palestinians
when they describe the founding of the Jewish
state.
Neturei Karta considers this event
a greater tragedy than the Holocaust.
They call Israel a cancer and Israelis Nazis,
and they regularly participate in anti-Israel
demonstrations
and protests throughout the world where they burn Israeli flags.
Neturei Karta members attend Israel Apartheid Week programs
at universities, and they always
show up to protest
At pro-Israel parades and marches in New York,
here in Toronto, and elsewhere throughout the world.
Neturei Karta's main motto is that Judaism and Zionism are incompatible.
Their leaders have argued that if a Jew supports Zionism,
they lose their status as a Jew.
Much more shocking
is that Neturei Karta have aligned themselves
With the most dangerous anti-Semites
and Islamic extremists in the world.
Neturei Karta leader Moshe Hirsch served
in Yasser Arafat's cabinet as minister of Jewish
affairs, and according to the New York Times,
he received $30,000 a month from Arafat.
Neturei Karta are supporters of the Nation of Islam and their leader,
Louis Farrakhan.
And they defended Farrakhan after he called Judaism a gutter religion
and insisting that
Adolf Hitler was a great man.
And Neturei Karta said that these remarks
were intentionally misconstrued by Zionists.
In 2006, Neturei Karta representatives attended
a Holocaust denial conference in Tehran, in
Iran, and they praised
The Iranian leader, Ahmadinejad,
for his call to wipe out the Zionist regime off the face
of the earth, and they told Iranian TV
that Zionists collaborated with the Nazis during
World War II, and they fought efforts to save Jews
so they could use the Holocaust to promote
the establishment of a Jewish state.
After the vicious terrorist attack,
By Islamic extremists on the Chabad house in Mumbai,
India, in 2008, Neturei Karta insisted
that it was divine retribution
for Chabad having relations with the Zionist state.
In 2012, Neturei Karta leaders participated
in Hezbollah's global march to Jerusalem,
and they laid a wreath.
At the tomb of terrorist Imad Mugniya in 2014, Israel's security
services arrested Neturei Karta member Yitzhak Bergil,
who was charged with spying on Israel for Iran.
Neturei Karta has expressed support for the Hamas terrorist group,
as well as support for Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
And the Neturei Karta leaders routinely meet with these two
Islamic terrorist organizations.
Now, it's one thing to have an issue
with the secular government of Israel.
It's quite another thing to crawl into bed with organizations
that are obsessed with the genocide of all Jews,
regardless of where they live.
There's clearly no justification for collaborating with terrorists
who have blood on their hands.
Now, what is the basis for Neturei Karta's
objection to the establishment of an Israeli state.
It basically stems from their understanding
of a passage in the Babylonian Talmud,
Tractate Ketubot 111a, which speaks about three oaths
which God made the Jewish people and the nations
of the world swear to uphold. The first oath
The first oath was that Israel should not go up
to their land altogether like a wall.
The second oath is that Israel would
not rebel against the nations of the world.
And the third oath was that the nations of the world would
not oppress the Jewish people too much.
That's the old joke, is that the definition
of an anti-Semite is someone who hates Jews too much.
Now, what is implied by the first oath?
Of not going up to the land like a wall.
What does that mean?
So there are two views among the commentaries of what this means.
One view is that it means that we should
not take back the land of Israel with a strong hand.
The second view is that we should not have most of the nation go up
and immigrate together at one time.
However, Israel never violated this oath because...
None of these scenarios took place.
Number one, we didn't seize the land of Israel with a strong hand
because the nations of the world gave us permission to have a state.
In 1917, the Balfour Declaration by the British government
expressed their support for the establishment
of a Jewish national home in Palestine.
Three years later, the San Remo Conference,
In 1920, of the world's leading powers, confirmed the pledge of the
Balfour Declaration to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine.
In 1922, the League of Nations mandate
for Palestine established the United Kingdom.
As the mandatory power in control of Palestine
with the aim of establishing a Jewish national home.
And in 1947, the United Nations partition plan
for Palestine sought to create independent Arab and Jewish states
in Palestine at the end of the British mandatory rule.
So we didn't rebel against the world
and seize the land of Israel by force against the will of
the nations. The nations of the world gave us permission
to establish our homeland. The second
interpretation was that going up to Israel like
a wall meant that we shouldn't all go up and
immigrate at the same time. This also never happened.
There was never a mass aliyah to Israel
Rather, individuals
and very small groups came to settle in the land since approximately
the 10th century, and beginning in the late 1800s,
some years saw about 30,000 immigrants
coming to the land.
But there was never a moment where the majority
of the people of Israel came up to the land.
There were other reasons why.
Many, many Jewish authorities believed that there
was no violation of these three oaths.
Some say that Israel's oaths became null
and void after the nations of the world violated
their oath by excessively
and relentlessly persecuting the Jewish people.
And this was certainly the case after the Holocaust.
The truth is,
That this passage in the Talmud about
these three oaths is not halakhic, meaning it is
not a legal ruling, it's not a legal passage in the Talmud.
It's more along the lines of aggadah,
it's a philosophical teaching expressing the nature
of exile.
But it was never meant as a legal ruling,
and the truth is that these three oaths
are not cited as law in any
of the standard authoritative legal codes either of Maimonides
or of the code of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch.
We should also recall the view of Nachmanides,
that there is an eternal obligation
For the Jewish people to take possession
of the land that God promised to our forefathers
and not to abandon it to any other nation or to leave it desolate.
We are commanded, Nachmanides says,
with the conquest of the land of Israel in every generation.
And that is a legal opinion.
That is a legal ruling.
It's one of the 613 commandments of the Torah,
according to Nachmanides.
I'll conclude by taking note of one more idea,
and that's the fact that shortly after the
establishment of the State of Israel,
more than 200 of the leading rabbis in the land
of Israel issued a proclamation that they viewed
the ingathering of the exiles and the
resettlement of the land.
With establishing a state as the first budding
of the beginning of the final redemption.
Ali, Ali, Ali, where are you?
Guys, guys, when I say duty is up, when I say duty is up, you say yes.
When I say Zionism, you say no. Duty is up.
