Jewish group 'Neturei Karta' partakes in Haniyeh funeral

The Jewish group 'Neturei Karta' participated yesterday in the funeral of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, assassinated in Iran on Wednesday by Israel. Activists on social media platforms, including the correspondent for Israeli Channel 11, Roi Kais, circulated a short video clip of the group during Haniyeh's funeral in Doha.

'Neturei Karta' is an Aramaic word meaning the guardians of the city and refers to a Jewish movement that rejects Zionism and opposes the existence of the State of Israel. The number of members of this movement is estimated at tens of thousands, about 5,000 of whom live in Jerusalem and the rest are spread across other countries, most notably the US and Britain.

The religious movement was founded in 1935 and demands the return of the land seized by Israel to the Palestinians based on a religious interpretation that states that trying to control this land by force "contradicts the will of God."

Most of the movement's followers are of Hungarian and Lithuanian origin, and have pro-Palestinian positions, which makes them subject to continuous persecution by the Israeli authorities. The movement adheres only to religious texts and rejects the adoption of democracy and considers that the current state of Israel should be rejected because its population “accepts democracy.”