Stamford Hill rabbis disown ambassador's visit

The religious leaders of one of Stamford Hill's most prominent organisations, the Jewish medical emergency service, Hatzola, have repudiated a recent visit to the area made by the Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely. 

In a statement in Hebrew which was circulated last week around the local community, Rabbi Shalom Weiss, rabbi of Hatzola, and Rabbi Eliezer Benedikt, writing on behalf of its spiritual committee, said the envoy’s stop at Hatzola had been done without the knowledge of the leadership of Hatzola and was not in accordance with the Torah view. 

Its appearance reveals the reluctance within some sections of the Strictly Orthodox community formally to recognise the state of Israel. 

While some Chasidic groups are affiliated to the Agudat Israel movement, which has previously served in Israeli governments as part of the United Torah Judaism party, others such as the powerful Satmar factions remain opposed to Zionism, arguing that the restoration of a Jewish state must await the Messiah.