JERUSALEM — The church body authorized by the Vatican to oversee the Catholic Church’s property in Israel has asked Israel’s attorney general to indict a Jewish extremist who it says recently incited violence against Israel’s Christian churches.
In a letter sent to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein on Aug. 9, the Custody of the Holy Land said Benzion Gopstein, sometimes spelled “Gopshtein,” head of the Jewish extremist group Lehava, poses a threat to Holy Land Christians.
The letter cited comments by Gopstein who, during an Aug. 4 panel discussion for yeshiva students, quoted the 12th-century Jewish philosopher Maimonides’ ruling that Christianity constitutes idolatry. Gopstein said the biblical Book of Deuteronomy calls for the destruction of idol worship.
The letter was the Christian world’s latest plea to Israeli authorities to find and prosecute the people responsible for more than 50 attacks against Christian and Muslim holy sites during the past few years. Israeli police are investigating the crimes, presumably carried out by far-right-wing Jewish extremists.
(RNS)
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