
Three men and a woman from the extremist Neturei Karta sect traveled to
Together with Weiss were Yishai Rothenberg and Yisroel Pinchos Friedman. The woman’s name was not released in a report on the visit broadcast over
Allegedly Hamas, which rules the
Shortly after the conclusion of the Sabbath at approximately 7:00 p.m., the group departed from the hotel and also left
'Terrible tragedy'
This is not the first time that Neturei Karta has expressed its support for the Hamas terrorist organization.
One day earlier, a handful of men from the same group joined a massive demonstration in Gaza at Beit Hanoun by Arabs and international leftists at the Erez Crossing calling for an end to the blockade by Israel. As with the group that spent Sabbath in
Several days prior to that, they were photographed together with British Parliament Member George Galloway, who led the Viva Palestina convoy in an attempt to break the blockade on Gaza by trying to pressure Cairo into allowing hundreds of trucks, buses and ambulances reportedly filled with humanitarian supplies to enter Egypt through Nuweiba from Aqaba, Jordan. The ploy would have enabled the convoy to bypass the Israeli checkpoints stationed at the Gaza crossings and head straight across the Sinai Peninsula in a shortcut to the Rafiah Crossing into the region.
Haniyeh's heroes
Six months ago, Weiss led a delegation of four Neturei Karta men who traveled with a group of international leftists to
Four years ago this month, the group wrote a public letter posted on the internet, proclaiming its “complete solidarity with the Palestinian people” and congratulating Hamas on its victory at the polls.
Next year in Muslim Jerusalem
The letter also states the fervent wish “that we should merit to see the peaceful and speedy dismantlement of the Zionist entity – the State of ‘
The letter was signed by Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, on behalf of Neturei Karta International,
Neturei Karta has in the past also sent delegations to visit with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, including a recent trip to attend a Holocaust-denial conference he sponsored in
When former Palestine Liberation Organization terror chief Yasser Arafat lay on his deathbed, the group organized a prayer vigil on his behalf.
Neturei Karta: Not to be Confused with Other Groups
Neturei Karta is an Aramaic term, meaning “Guardians of the City” – the reference is to the holy city of
The group, founded 70 years ago, is vehemently anti-Zionist and opposes the existence of the State of Israel, insisting that no Israeli government can legitimately exist until the Messiah arrives, who will then establish one.
The group's extremist actions are shunned by other Jewish sects, including the Satmar Chassidic sect, with which it is often confused due to similar garb and the fact that Satmar, and several other Chassidic groups agree with the basic premise that only the Messiah has the right to form a government and state in the
Estimates of the size of the group range from a few hundred to a few thousand, depending on who is doing the estimating, with communities living in the