An Israeli Arab man and his formerly Jewish wife were forced to hire 14 security guards to protect their wedding celebration after openly racist right-wing neo-Kahanist group Lehava, made up predominately of Zionist Orthodox, haredi and Chabad Jews, decided to protest it.
Above: Bentzion “Bentzi” Gupstein
Jewish-Arab Intermarriage Prompts Right-Wing Protest, Threats
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
An Israeli Arab man and his formerly Jewish wife were forced to hire 14 security guards to protect their wedding celebration after the right-wing openly racist neo-Kahanist group Lehava, made up predominately of Zionist Orthodox, haredi and Chabad Jews, decided to protest it.
Mahmoud Mansour, a Muslim from Jaffa, and Morel Malka, a Jew who recently converted to Islam, hired the guards after Lehava announced a protest to take place outside the wedding hall in Rishon Lezion where their celebration is to take place Sunday.
Since Lehava’s announcement, banquet hall management reportedly says it has received threatening phone calls, while other callers only criticized the hall for hosting an event celebrating an intermarriage.
Lehava – which also has deep Chabad connections – posted photographs of the wedding invitation on social media sites and urged people to come and protest and to bring megaphones and banners.
The couple is already legally married and Sunday’s event is only a celebration of that marriage, not a wedding.
Mansour’s parents and Malka’s mother reportedly support the marriage while her father strongly opposes it.
“I never dreamed that my daughter would marry an Arab. I’m not going, period,” he told Israel’s Channel 10 News.
Lehava’s chairman Bentzion “Bentzi” Gupstein told Ma’ariv Lehava, which opposes all Jewish-Arab marriages and unions, was especially angered the wedding celebration was taking place because of the Gaza War.
“We are still at war and she is marrying a member of the enemy,” Gupstein said.
Both bride and groom are Israeli citizens.
Police say they will send officers to the area on Sunday.