Former prime minister Naftali Bennett has filed a 1 million shekel lawsuit against a rabbi who falsely claimed that Bennett’s parents, Myrna and Jim, were not Jewish.
The defamation lawsuit alleges that the false claims and “appalling epithets and curses” were seen by hundreds of thousands of people. The rabbi has more than 150,000 followers on social media.
In “sermons” posted online, he falsely claimed that Bennett’s mother underwent a Reform conversion in the US, and that he is “worse than a dog,” who is at least loyal.
To illustrate how widespread the claim was, Bennett pointed out that Google users search for his mother are suggested by algorithm to add the words “Christian” or “convert .
Bennett said that his mother, Myrna — whose parents come from generations of Jews, some of whom “were murdered in the Holocaust for being Jewish” — received “many inquiries over the past year in regard to doubts about her Judaism,” which “brought her great pain and sadness.”
Bennett said that damages he receives from the lawsuit will be donated to organizations that assist the families of fallen IDF soldiers.
One million shekel is equal to over $292,000.
This rabbi didn't learn:
ReplyDeleteמשנה מסכת אבות פרק א משנה יא
חכמים הזהרו בדבריכם שמא תחובו חובת גלות
If he is Jewish, ghe has nothing to hide. Why would the rabbi say that? Was he being for real or saying he behaves like a nochri? When are reformed and conservative "converts" going to sue their rabbis for saying they are Jewish?
ReplyDeleteI have looked up Bennett's parents before to see if they are Jewish. Jim does not sound like a Jewish name, and a lot of reformed Jews, which is what she was raised as, are not Jewish.
ReplyDelete