A video showing Albania’s chief rabbi celebrating the destruction in the Gaza Strip and praying with members of the Israeli army has sparked angry reactions in the country and calls for his dismissal.
The British news website Middle East Eye, which reported the news, said that Rabbi Yoel Kaplan appeared in a video clip posted on a website affiliated with the Jewish community in Albania last Monday, but it is not clear exactly when it was filmed in Gaza.
He noted that the rabbi, who is also an Israeli officer, returned to Israel after the October 7 attack. He had been appointed chief rabbi by the Albanian government in 2010, against the wishes of the country’s Jewish community.
Among those criticizing Kaplan’s actions are pro-Palestinian Albanian activists who form an organization called Palestina Ileri (Free Palestine).
deep resentment
A spokesperson for the group told Middle East Eye that they were “deeply outraged that the Chief Rabbi of Albania wore an Israeli army uniform and actively participated in the genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Activists within the movement called on the country’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama, to “immediately remove Kaplan from any religious duties towards the Jewish community in Albania and declare him persona non grata.”
The organization also called on the Jewish community in Albania to join its condemnation of Kaplan.
“Such actions not only tarnish the standing of a religious leader, but also jeopardize the image of Albania, a country that has historically stood up against repression in favor of human rights,” the organization’s spokesman said.