Jerusalem, October 30, 2006 …  The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) strongly condemned a call signed by Ashdod rabbis forbidding Jews from renting apartments to Arabs or foreign workers. The call was made in a leaflet distributed by the organization Yad l'Achim and signed by well-known rabbis in the city.

ADL's Israel office issued the following statement:

We deplore such bigotry in the strongest terms. Such discriminatory appeals are a terrible offense against Jewish teaching and a stain on the name of the Jewish people. Such conduct toward Jews anywhere in the world would not be tolerated and such conduct toward non-Jews must also not be tolerated in the Jewish state.

The call to residents of the city to discriminate against Arabs and foreign workers is not only incompatible with Israeli democratic law and we call upon the authorities to investigate this so-called ultra-Orthodox organization.

This is not the first time that Yad l'Achim has issued racist statements. In the past they have intimidated and harassed members of Jehovah's Witnesses and others. The ADL in Israel urges the authorities to call the Rabbis of Ashdod who signed off on this appeal to order accordingly.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.