A group of Hassidic Jews expelled from the Satmar Synagogue in Brooklyn for placing an anti-Zionist and anti-Israel advertisement in the New York Times last January are responsible for preparation and placement of a similar advertisement in the Times today, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency has learned. The advertisement has a large headline: “ALL JEWS” and continues “who are truly loyal to the Torah abhor and disclaim the recent Zionist political meddling. We are gratified that our devoted President Nixon recognizes that Zionist leaders cannot represent the faithful Jewish people. All men of good-will understand that authority in Jewish religious life flows only from the genuine Torah sages and not from clenched fists. With their inflammatory boycotts and anti-French hysteria, the Zionist leaders have once again revealed themselves as the arch-enemies of the Jewish people.”
The advertisement was signed “Naturei Karta of U.S.A.” The Naturei Karta is a Jerusalem organization of religious zealots who reject the authority of modern Israel on religious grounds. The Times advertisement also bore a notation: Rabbi Chayim Reich, secretary. A JTA source said there was no such rabbi in Brooklyn. The 20 Hassidic Jews had their names posted in the Satmar Synagogue, Congregation Yetv Lev, in Williamsburg, after the Satmar Rebbe ordered an investigation into the placement of the January advertisement. The 20 Jews were found to have been responsible for preparing and placement of the January advertisement and with raising funds to pay for it. They were ordered banned from the synagogue and all other Satmar institutions until they formally repented their action. However, the JTA was told, the 20 have found refuge in a small Hassidic synagogue in Brooklyn.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
