A chartered seven-coach train left today for Jerusalem carrying Rabbi Joel Teiteibaum, the Satmarer Rebbe, and hundreds of his followers. A gigantic welcome awaits the Chassidic rabbi from the Neturei Karta, the ultra-orthodox zealots who consider the Rebbe as their leader.
Rabbi Teiteibaum arrived last night on a Turkish vessel and was greeted by nearly , 000 followers who were permitted into the port area, and by thousands more who awaited him outside the port gates. Guards of police and Chassidic youth struggled to enable Rabbi Teitelbaum to reach his car which took him to the nearby quarter of Kiryat Eliahu where he spent the night.
Special tickets for the train to Jerusalem were printed by the sect because standard tickets bear Israel’s insignia and the Neturei Karta does not recognize Israel.
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