An Iranian minister chose a strange time to meet with two ultra-Orthodox Jewish activists: on the sidelines of an event in Tehran in support of Palestinian rights, according to reports on Twitter.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with the two Hasidic men during a conference of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Tehran to commemorate the Nakba.
The two Hasidic men in the photos are Yousef Rosenberg and David Weiss. Dovid Weiss is a rabbi who lives in the US and is the spokesman for Neturei Karta International.
Naturei Karta is a small ultra-Orthodox sect that opposes the Zionist movement to settle Jews in Israel. Naturei Karta believes that only the Messiah can establish a Jewish Kingdom in Israel, which is why they oppose the current Israeli regime in power.
Social media users may remember a photo that went viral in 2014 showing a Hasidic Jewish member of Naturei Karta and a masked Palestinian protester appearing to prepare themselves for a confrontation with Israeli security forces.
It seems that Weiss has hung out with top level Iranian officials before. The rabbi has visited Iran on several occasions, including to discuss the “destruction of Israel” with Iranian leaders. And photos from 2012 appear to show him shaking hands with then-president of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a conference in Tehran.
—Hunter Stuart
