Israeli Religious Ministers Resent ‘interference’ of U.S. Jewish Groups

Interior Minister Moshe Shapiro today described as an “unwarranted interference” in Israeli affairs, a cable sent last week by leaders of seven major American Jewish organizations calling on Prime Minister Levi Eshkol to resist pressure by “extremist religious groups” in the United States supporting legislation that would abridge religious freedom in Israel.

Asserting that laws regarding religious matters in Israel are established by a majority of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, according to the will of the people, Mr. Shapiro said that American religious Jewish organizations never interfered in matters of religion and the laws of Israel. He noted that an exception was the issued of the projected non kosher kitchan aboard the liner Shalom, adding that “this stemmed from the assumption that the Shalom was chiefly intended for Jewish travelers from American.”

Charging that the message from the Jewish groups was inspired rather than spontaneous, Mr. Shapiro said that if they wished to “say something against U.S. rabbis” they should have addressed the protest to the latter rather than to Premier Eshkol. In another comment on the cabled protest, Religious Affairs Minister Zorach Warhaftig said “there is only one way to influence legislation in Israel and that is by settling here and participating in the Knesset elections.”

(In New York, the Agudah Labor Organization today issued a protest against the seven major Jewish organizations for sending their cable to Premier Eshkol. The extreme Orthodox labor group announced that it will leave the ranks of the American Jewish congress with which it is affiliated. The AJCongress is one of the seven central Jewish bodies which signed the cable to Premier Eshkol. The other six are: The American Jewish Committee. B’nai B’rith, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Rabbinical Assembly, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and the United Synagogue of American.)