(JNS.org) A prominent Sephardic rabbi has urged leaders from the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of New York to bar “Jewish groups that support BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions)” from marching in the June 1 Celebrate Israel Parade in New York City. Ahead of an April 8 protest rally outside of the UJA-Federation building regarding the participation of groups including Partners for Progressive Israel, the New Israel Fund (NIF), and B’Tselem in the JCRC-run and UJA Federation-supported parade, Rabbi Elie Abadie – leader of New York’s Edmond J. Safra Synagogue – wrote in a letter to UJA-Federation and JCRC leaders that the groups’ “disguise of being legitimate ‘Pro-Israel Jewish Groups’ has been already discovered and revealed as false.”

“These are the same groups who continue to accuse Israel of being an Apartheid State and a human rights violator, likening Israel to Nazi Germany,” Abadie wrote. “They are the ones who supported and celebrated the Goldstone Report, falsely accusing Israel of war crimes.”