Twenty-seven rabbis' wives signed a letter distributed by the Lehava organization calling upon Jewish women not to date Arab men, not to work in places where Arabs are employed and not to volunteer for national service with them.
RELATED:Poll: 48% of Israeli Jews oppose rabbis' rent edictIntellectuals call on Netanyahu to fire racist rabbis40 rabbis: Jews shouldn't rent, sell homes to gentilesThe rebbetzins' letter states, "There are quite a few Arab workers who give
themselves Hebrew names. Yusef turns into Yosef, Samir turns into Sami,
and Awabad turns into Ami. They ask to be close to you, try to find
favor with you, and give you all the attention in world, they are
actually here knowing to act with courtesy, acting as if they really
care for you, say a good word, but their behavior is only temporary.
The moment you are in their hands, in their village, under their
control, everything changes."
"Your life will never go back to the way it was, and the attention you
so desired will turn into curses, beatings, and humiliations," the letter warns.
This latest letter came weeks after a controversial petition signed by
over 40 municipal rabbis calling on Jews not to rent homes in Israel to gentiles, sparking a wide-spread controversy.
In response to the earlier petition, nearly 50 Conservative (Masorti) rabbis signed a halachic statement allowing home rentals or sales to non- Jews in Israel, in a move to counter the statement signed by nearly 50 city rabbis that prohibited just that.