Yair Altman
The Lehava organization issued a notice Sunday evening, inviting the public to call a voicemail service and record the names of Jewish Israelis renting apartments to Arabs. Lehava, identified with supporters of Meir Kahane, thus adds its weight to the recent call by 50 prominent rabbis to avoid renting to Arabs which, the organization says, amounts to no less than assimilation.
According to the notice, the information given anonymously will be verified, after which the names will be published as a mark of disgrace "so the public can decide what to do with them."
"If we were in the time of (former Prime Minister David) Ben Gurion or (former Prime Minister) Golda (Meir), the organization would undoubtedly receive a governmental citation," said a Lehava activist to Ynet, claiming the activists were taking the rabbis' letter one step further.
"The organization wants to apply this important ruling, while our main aim is to counter assimilation. We publish our number, people will call, then we'll make checks of course, and as soon as we see the information is correct we’ll publish it in a list of disgrace."
The activist added that the publication of the list of names will not actively include a call to harm the people involved.
He also referred to what he termed "assimilation," saying, "Unfortunately, this is a serious problem, and we hope the rabbis' halachic ruling will put a stop to it. This is an existential struggle for the character of the Jewish State, and we don't intend to give up."
This new initiative comes just a week after 50 rabbis signed a position paper which stated that renting or selling apartments or land in Israel to non-Jews is forbidden according to halacha.
"The neighbors and acquaintances of the seller or renter must warn him personally first and later they are allowed to make this matter public, distance themselves from him, avoid commercial ties, and so on," the letter reads.
Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3998121,00.html
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