Israeli Cabinet ministers and legislators from across the political spectrum condemned remarks by rabbis from the fervently Orthodox Shas Party against immigrants from the former Soviet Union. During a demonstration against the sale of pork in Beit Shemesh, outside Jerusalem, Rabbi David Benizri, brother of Israel’s health minister, reportedly accused Russian immigrants of bringing ailments and abomination to the city. Deputy Mayor Rabbi Moshe Abutbul said “everyone reads in the papers that the Russian immigrants brought gentiles to the country.”
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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.
