Turkish Cleric Invites Rabbi To Proselytize Ahmadinejad

International News

By Samuel Sokol

on Thursday, February 25, 2010

Adnan Oktar, head of the Turkish Foundation to Protect National Values, an Islamic revivalist movement, has offered to arrange a meeting between Jerusalem-based Rabbi Yoel Shwartz and representatives of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

According to Oktar, an advocate of interfaith dialogue, Ahmadinejad is opposed to Israel due to his perception of the state as a center of heresy against G-d. Were the Iranian leader to understand that the majority of Israelis are traditional, Oktar believes, then it may be possible to temper his aggressive rhetoric.

Oktar is not a typical Muslim religious leader. Despite his reported relationship with members of the Iranian regime, he has stated publically that, according to the Quran, the entire land of Israel belongs to the Jews.

Despite this, a publication entitled The Holocaust Lie, a revisionist history of the Holocaust, was attributed to Oktar in 1996. Oktar, whose fundamentalist views have made him unpopular with previous secular Turkish governments, has denied that he authored the book and is said to maintain good relations with Turkey’s Jewish community.

Oktar owns several media concerns that he uses to call for a return to traditional Islamic values among his hundreds of thousands of Turkish followers. Decrying atheism as a prime cause of moral decay in the world, Oktar has expressed admiration for Rabbi Shwartz, who is active in promoting gentile adherence to the Biblical Noahide laws and has written a prayer book for Noahides which has been translated into several languages.

According to the Bible, Noah and his sons were commanded to observe seven laws relating to morality and just governance. By Jewish tradition, these laws are incumbent upon all gentiles worldwide.

Among the topics that Oktar wishes Rabbi Shwartz to discuss with Iranian presidential representatives is his involvement with a Jerusalem-based rabbinical court dealing with issues concerning Noahides. Oktar believes that this will have a positive effect on the way in which Ahmadinejad views Israelis.

The rabbi has said that he is willing to travel to Turkey for a meeting with Iranian representatives if one were arranged and has reportedly turned to noted Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Elyashiv to judge the propriety of such a mission.

Rabbi Shwartz, one of the first haredi rabbis to call for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students to join the IDF, told the Five Towns Jewish Times that he would attempt to receive approval of Israeli government officials before engaging in any discussions with officials of the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not be reached for comment.

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