Leading Israeli figures have condemned the comments.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted that it was “an outrageous statement.”
He said: “Immigration from the former CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] is a huge boon to Israel and the Jewish people.”
Avigdor Lieberman, a Soviet-born Israeli and leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, called for the Chief Rabbi to be prosecuted for incitement, adding: “This is not the Chief Rabbi of Israel — it’s the Chief Inciter of Israel”.
On Tuesday, the Chief Rabbi refused to apologise for the remarks, declaring: “I said it clearly and I’ll say it again.”
He added: “Along with the blessed immigration of Jews from the former USSR, who gave their lives for the protection of Judaism – there is a minority of immigrants who are not Jewish according to halachah, who migrated here on the back of the ‘grandson clause’ in the Law of Return.”
