Board of Deputies condemns Israel’s Sephardi Chief Rabbi’s comments

The Board of Deputies has warned the  Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel against “stoking prejudice” towards Israel’s minorities

Board President Jonathan Arkush and Senior Vice President Richard Verber said: “We condemn remarks reportedly made by the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef in which he apparently said that non-Jews should not be allowed to live in Israel unless they abide by the Noachide Laws.  Such comments risk stoking prejudice towards Israel’s minorities at a time when unity is sorely needed. They are also a source of embarrassment.

“In this context it is important to recall and uphold the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel which states: ‘It will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations’.”