The infamous rightwing Israeli Benzi Gopstein, leader of the Jewish extremist terror group Lehava, is back in the headlines. He wants all the Christians out of Israel, and they can take their holiday with them. On December 17, the Haredi website Kooker published (Hebrew) an article by Gopstein: “Christmas has no place in the Holy Land … Let us remove the vampires before they once again drink our blood” and claimed the establishment of the state of Israel was “the most ringing slap in the face the church ever received” after centuries of failed attempts to eliminate Jews.

This is nothing new, Gopstein is a Kahanist and claims Jewish law mandates the burning of mosques and churches.

Haaretz reports:

Gopstein wrote in the article that he is disturbed by “the fall of the line of defense of the Jewish people against our deadly enemy for hundreds of years – the Christian Church.” He said the Church had used “the maximum tools at its disposal to destroy the Jewish people,” and that today “the Church has been defeated roundly when the Jewish people has one of the strongest armies in the world and they have no chance any longer of destroying our body….A last hope remains to those vampires and blood suckers – the mission. If Jews cannot be killed, they can still be converted.” Gopstein said “missionary bookstores offer their products in front of everyone on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem, whole communities are crawling with missionaries, many businesses are run by them and are used by the mission, many cases using camouflage and without the knowledge of the employees.” Gopstein said that the “fear that every Jew felt, the disgust that we described above at Christianity – disgust that was the only thing that saved us from the dark days in Europe – has disappeared with the ‘good life’ of the democratic age…and the missionary is on the prowl for prey.” Gopstein ends his article by writing: “I call on everyone to raise a cry and fight this corrupt phenomenon in the best tradition of Judaism, before we all, including those who observe the commandments among us, become a community of sycophants.” “Christmas has no place in the Holy Land,” he wrote, adding “Let us remove the vampires before they once again drink our blood.”

The Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism wrote a letter to the state prosecutor calling for an investigation over Gopstein’s latest remarks, listing numerous incidents of incitement. But Gopstein is Israel’s teflon man, nothing sticks to him. He was arrested for incitement last December, along with other members of La Familia, after the torching of a bilingual school in Jerusalem. Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya’alon considered declaring Lahava a terrorist organization at that time, but Gopstein suggested outlawing the Islamist Movement instead. Coincidentally (or not), last month the government of Israel did outlaw the Islamic Movement of Northern Israel and shut down 17 affiliated charities.

However, Gopstein remains free. Meanwhile, Haaretz reports indictments have not been served on the torching of the bilingual school and “it seems the case is going to be closed.” The state prosecutor’s office received the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism letter calling for an investigation, but ” “no decision has been made yet” on the Lehava case.”

Gopstein is the leader of a Kahanist network that has wreaked criminal havoc all over Israel and Palestine. From the torching of mosques, churches and schools, to price tag attacks, to murder. Investigations come and go, everything seems to fall off him like water off a duck’s back. No wonder Gopstein and his cohorts keep smiling.