A photo from the White House meeting shows the rival Satmar Rebbes, Rabbi Yekutiel Yehuda Teitelbaum and his brother, sitting side by side and shaking hands for the first time in 25 years, according to The Zioneer. The image also captures other prominent rebbes including the Bobover, Vizhnitz Monsey, Rav Malkiel Kotler, and Rav Aharon Mendel Twersky.
A photograph from Thursday's White House meeting shows the rival Satmar Rebbes — Rabbi Yekutiel Yehuda Teitelbaum and his brother — seated side by side and shaking hands, marking the first public reconciliation gesture between the siblings in 25 years. The image, obtained by The Zioneer, also captures the Bobover Rebbe, Vizhnitz Monsey Rebbe, Rav Malkiel Kotler, and Rav Aharon Mendel Twersky (son of the Skverer Rebbe). The handshake comes after The Zioneer reported earlier Friday (Sep 4) that President Donald Trump hosted a delegation of senior American rabbinic leaders, including both Satmar factions, at the White House late Thursday.
The Zioneer first reported on the planned meeting early Thursday morning (Sep 3, 05:37 Jerusalem), noting that the Satmar Rebbes were expected to raise the ongoing conscription crisis in Israel with President Trump. Subsequent reports confirmed the Rebbes en route to the White House, and later that the delegation included both rival brothers. The photograph now provides visual confirmation of the historic gesture.
The Satmar community, the largest Hasidic group in New York, has been divided since a succession dispute erupted after the death of the previous Rebbe, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, in 2006. As The Zioneer reported on Aug 30, the Satmar Rebbe was invited to the White House meeting with Trump, and the Trump administration has increasingly engaged with Orthodox Jewish leadership. During the meeting, the rebbes also requested Trump's assistance on Israel's conscription crisis, as The Zioneer reported earlier Friday.
The photo was published by Israeli journalist Yisrael Cohen. No further details on the long-term implications for the Satmar rift have emerged.
8 developments
- ConfirmedHaredi protesters demonstrate outside IDF draft centers, urge Trump to 'save' them from enlistment
- DevelopingChief Sephardic Rabbi holds urgent consultation on yeshiva draft exemption amid granddaughter's wedding
- StrongTrump says he asked Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah
- StrongSatmar Rebbe Invited to White House Meeting with Trump Next Week
Source and signal
- Open-source intake