ADL calls on Safed rabbi to reverse ruling on Arabs

The Anti-Defamation League called on an Israeli rabbi to reverse a ruling it linked to threats to a Jewish landlord who rented to Arabs.

“All citizens of the State of Israel, according to the law, have equal rights including renting apartments,” the ADL said in a statement. “Citizens should not be discriminated against for their ethnic background.”

It called on Rabbi Yosef Eliahu, the chief rabbi of Safed, to reverse a ruling calling on Jewish residents of Safed not to rent to Arabs.

Subsequent to Eliahu’s ruling, the ADL said, an elderly Jewish man who had rented rooms to Israeli Arab students had been subject to harassment and physical threats.

“We call upon Rabbi Eliyahu to reverse the discriminatory ruling, which negates Israeli law,” the ADL said. “We welcome statements from public leaders condemning this announcement.”