Bentzi Gopstein, head of the Lehava anti-assimilation organization, was indicted on Tuesday on charges of incitement to terrorism, violence, and racism. Submitted by the State Attorney’s Jerusalem District, the indictment was approved by the attorney-general.
The indictment comes one day after Gopstein blasted Netanyahu’s rival within the Likud, Gideon Saar, because Saar’s daughter is in a romantic relationship with a Muslim Arab. Saar is Netanyahu’s main challenger within their party (Likud) and is hoping to dethrone the Prime Minister in their upcoming party primaries. Saar believes that the recent indictment against Netanyahu makes him unfit to lead the country.
Lehava’s full statement on Saar’s daughter’s relationship was released on November 24 and is as follows:
 Gideon Sa’ar, seeking the public’s trust in order to run in the near future for the top job in the State of Israel, is unfit to stand at the head of the Likud, The problem with Sa’ar is not that his daughter is in a relationship with an Arab, since we already know from all the cases that come to us every day that this can happen even in the best of families. The problem is that he takes this relationship for granted and agrees to it.
Less than 48 hours on November 26, Gopstein was handed an indictment The charges relate to statements Gopstein made to the media back in 2012 when several Israelis attacked Arabs in Jerusalem. When that happened, Gopstein said in an interview with Arutz 7: “The police and the media are committing a lynch against these Jewish youths… every day Jewish girls are attacked by Arabs and they have no one to turn to.”
In response to the charges against him, Gopstein released a statement saying:
“Shai Nitzan ruled today that the fight against assimilation is racism, and issued an indictment against the Chairman of “Lehava”, Bentzi Gopstein. The Jewish People are grateful to Bentzi Gopstein. This is the time to support the struggle against assimilaton and to tell Shai Nitzan: Preserving the Jewish People is NOT breaking the law!”
In August, Breaking Israel News reported on a story involving Gopstein who reunited a Jewish mother with her daughters who were living in Gaza.
