'Don't Date Non-Jews' Letter Stirs Israel

JERUSALEM -- Good Jewish girls should stay away from Arabs, according to a letter signed by 30 wives of prominent Orthodox rabbis, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported today.

"Don't date non-Jews, don't work in places where there are non-Jews, and don't perform national service with non-Jews," the letter states. (National service is an alternative to army service for Orthodox Jewish girls who do not believe men and women should mix freely. Most girls volunteer in schools and hospitals.)

Lest you think that the target of the letter is not specifically Arabs, it continues, urging girls not to work in supermarkets or hospitals.

Frictions between Israeli Arabs and Jews

Oded Balilty, AP

Israeli rabbis speak during a protest Dec. 20 in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, Israel. Residents and right-wing activists were demonstrating against selling or renting property to non-Jews.

"There are no few Arab workers who use a Hebrew name. Yusuf turns into Yossi, Samir turns into Sami and Abed turns into Ami. They seek your company, try to get you to like them and give you all the attention in the world. But as soon as you're in their hands, in their village, under their control, everything changes."

The letter was signed by prominent rabbis' wives, including Nitzhia Yosef, daughter-in-law of Shas ultra-Orthodox spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef, who has expressed harsh statements about Arabs. The Shas party has 12 seats in the 120-seat Israeli parliament, and Yosef has tremendous political power.

The letter was organized by Lehava, which aims to "save the daughters of Israel from assimilation." The group runs a shelter for Jewish women who have left their Arab partners. A spokesman for Lehava refused to comment on the letter and hung up twice on AOL News.

The letter also uses Jewish guilt to dissuade young women from socializing with Arabs.

"Your grandmothers never dreamed or prayed that one of their descendants would commit an act that would remove future generations of her family from the Jewish people," it warns young girls.

There are no statistics on how many Jewish women are dating Arab men. About 20 percent of Israel's population is Arab.

The letter provoked sharp criticism among liberal Israelis.

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"If you change the word 'Arabs' to 'Jews,' this letter could have been published in a Nazi newspaper," Yaron Ezrachi, a Hebrew University political science professor, told AOL News. "These rabbis' wives are poisoning the well that both religious and secular Israelis drink from -- the well of Judaism."

The letter comes just two weeks after another letter signed by dozens of municipal rabbis urging Jews not to rent or sell homes to Arabs. A survey released today found that 44 percent of Israeli Jews agreed with the rabbis' call, and 48 percent disagreed.

"Israeli society is falling into a deep dark pit of racism and xenophobia," said Rabbi Gilad Kariv, the head of Israel's Reform Judaism movement.

Lehava also urged supporters to boycott supermarkets in the West Bank where Arabs are employed.