Iran's Ahmadinejad Bonds With Rabbis In NYC
In a surprising move, controversial Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Orthodox Jews in Manhattan on Thursday.
Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images
(CBS) NEW YORK Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad railed against "Zionists" during a meeting with rabbis who agreed with him during a strange meeting in New York City on Thursday.
CBS affiliate WCBS-TV gained exclusive access to the event, held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Manhattan.
"They have no respect for the lives and dignity of the Jews," Ahmadinejad said through a translator. "If they could they would destroy 6 billion people in the world.
"But their time is ending, God willing," he said.
The rabbis, who believe Israel's founding violated God's will, had praise for the controversial Iranian leader.
"God should give you long life and health and strength and not to be intimidated by the attacks of Zionism, that is attacking you as being anti-Semitic, which is a pure ploy of Zionism to intimidate people," said Rabbi Yisroel David Weiss of United Jews Against Zionism. "They shouldn't speak up against their illegitimate state."
Ahmadinejad again questioned the existence of the Holocaust. The rabbis, some of whom lost relatives in the war, suggested it was all a Zionist conspiracy.
New York City Jewish groups told WCBS-TV the meeting was a travesty.
When told by WCBS-TV that mainstream Jewish groups were calling the meeting an obscenity and a charade because these men represent nothing, Ahmadinejad replied, "Why are you asking this question from me? You represent Jews?"
The Iranian president did not answer the question.
--
Magal
Leia o Blog: http://hebreu.blogspot.com
.jpg)
