Ben-Zion Gopstein

Ben-Zion "Bentzi" Gophstein (בן־ציון "בנצי" גופשטיין, born 10 September 1969) is a political activist affiliated with the far-right in Israel, a student of Meir Kahane, and founder and director of Lehava, an Israeli Jewish anti-assimilation organization.

Shortly after Kahane's 1990 assassination, Gopstein was arrested, and then released, in a case involving the unsolved murder of an Arab couple.

Kach incited to racism and advocated the expulsion of Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and Gopstein praised the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre committed by fellow Kach member Baruch Goldstein.

He has participated in memorials to Kahane.

In 1994, Gopstein was assigned to administrative detention as a result of his involvement with Kahane's then-banned organization.

For many years, Hemla focused on "saving the daughters of Israel" from mixed marriages with Arab men, and received up to $175,000 each year from the state between 2005 and 2013.

Part of the public funding went to Gopstein's salary.

While some considered Hemla to be focused on keeping Jewish women from dating Arab men, Gopstein described the charter of the Hemla in an interview with Haaretz:

"A few years ago, it was more the issue of girls with Arabs, but today, that's less important - it's more a concern for Haredi girls with all kinds of problems. For Haredi girls, [the Hemla hostel] is the only place there is. They don't get along with the family, there's incest, things like that ... not necessarily Arabs, and not assimilation. This is the place for Haredi girls who can't remain at home.'"

Gopstein serves as head of Lehava, an anti-assimilation organization.

It is dedicated to preventing personal, romantic, or business relationships between Jews and non-Jews, particularly Arabs.

Lehava's activities are documented in a recent report titled "Racism and Gender in Israel" by the Israel Religious Action Center and other groups active against racism.

He was a member of the Council of Kiryat Arba, 2010–2013.

In 2011, Lehava plastered posters in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem deploring a supermarket chain that employed Palestinians.

The slogan of the fliers was, "Do you want your grandson to be called Ahmad Ben Sarah?"

The group began distributing "kosher certificates" to businesses that did not employ Arabs to encourage discrimination against non-Jews.

In 2012, Lehava distributed fliers warning Palestinian men not to date Jewish women.

In addition to opposing interfaith and interethnic marriages, and promoting discrimination against Palestinians and Arabs in employment, Lehava also has encouraged Israelis to report to the organization the names of Jews who rent to Palestinians so that they can be named and publicly shamed.

A group of anti-racist organizations petitioned Israel's Supreme Court against the state attorney, Lehava, and Gopstein.

According to the petition, Gopstein had, in addition to promoting discrimination against Palestinians and other Arabs, praised a group of Jewish youths who attacked Palestinians in Jerusalem, leaving one victim unconscious and hospitalized.

The court case is pending.

In 2014, three members of Lehava were arrested, and indicted in 2014 for committing arson and spray-painting anti-Arab graffiti at the Max Rayne Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish Arab Education in Israel (Yad B'Yad) Bilingual School in Jerusalem.

Gopstein, along with several other group members, was arrested shortly thereafter for incitement.

In the same year, Gopstein openly criticized Yair Netanyahu, son of then-prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for dating a non-Jewish women of Nordic descent.

In 2015, in a tape-recorded talk, Gopstein justified burning down churches based on the religious teachings against idolatry by 12th-century Jewish philosopher and scholar Maimonides.

Later that year, he advocated expelling Christians from Israel and banning celebration of Christmas there.

Gopstein has served as public relations director of Hemla, a publicly funded non-profit.

In January 2015, Channel 2 reported that Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon may be preparing to categorize Lehava as a terrorist organization.

Ya'alon was reported to have ordered the Shin Bet and the Defense Ministry to assemble evidence required for the classification.

The arson incident received international attention.

Gopstein issued a statement harshly critical of Ya'alon:

"I suggest that [Ya'alon] aim to outlaw the Islamist Movement and then preoccupy itself with an anti-assimilation group.... Instead of taking care of an enemy of Israel, the defense minister is trying to win over votes from the Left [by] taking on Lehava. The group acts to save the daughters of Israel [Jewish women] and deserves the Israel Prize."

A journalist participated in Lehava undercover and reported on Gopstein's leadership.

Liat Bar-Stav described a meeting that Gopstein led for his followers, in which he said to them:

"Some 45 years ago, Rabbi Kahane said, shouted, and cried out that the enemies within us are a cancer, and that, if we don't take this cancer and get rid of it, we won't continue to exist. Unfortunately, this dangerous cancer of co-existence has metastasized everywhere. There are various ministers in the government who are encouraging co-existence, who are giving them jobs, allowing them into the hi-tech world, allowing them to become doctors."

As the crowd responded with booing and cheering, Gopstein continued:

"The cancer we spoke about in the beginning has offshoots in the Knesset of Israel too. Thirty years ago, Rabbi Kahane stood up in the Knesset and took out a hangman's noose for traitors, a noose for the Arab MK who was there. It's not a threat, it's a promise, the rabbi said when attacked for doing so. So, this is what I want to wish [former MK Azmi] Bishara on behalf of all of you. - (Waving a noose) - Your day will come, Azmi! We are waiting for the Israeli government to come and hang you from the tallest tree! Azmi, only thanks to Rabbi Kahane will we make sure you are hanged one day.'"

Before his Facebook account was permanently disabled, it had doctored images of Arab Israeli Knesset members who appear to be hanged by the neck.

In November 2019, he was indicted on charges of incitement to terrorism, violence, and racism.

Gopstein is a student of Meir Kahane and an adherent of Kahanism, the ideology named for and developed by him and promoted by his banned Kach party in Israel.