Rabbi at Vatican meeting condemns Iranian president

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A top rabbi addressing a worldwide meeting of Roman Catholic bishops at the Vatican on Monday condemned the Iranian president's verbal attacks on Israel. Shear-Yashuv Cohen, the chief rabbi in the Israeli city of Haifa, became the first Jew to address such a meeting, known as a synod of bishops. In his speech, Cohen did not name Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but denounced "the terrible and vicious words" spoken by "the president of a certain state in the Middle East" at the UN General Assembly last month. Ahmadinejad lashed out at Israel and accused "Zionists" of controlling the world's economy. The speech drew harsh condemnations by Israeli and Jewish leaders, and Cohen said the "false and malicious accusations" were an incitement to anti-Semitism.