Chabadniks in the southern Indian city
of Kochi on Tuesday vehemently denied a report that appeared in local
media earlier in the day accusing them of being part of an Israeli
covert operation. Rabbi Shneor Zalman and Yaffa Shenoi told The Jerusalem Post they were stunned
by a story run by the Times of India in which unnamed Indian security
officials said they were secret Israeli agents that would soon be
deported from the country.
“I was invited here by the Jewish
community of Kochi with the full knowledge of local authorities,” said
Zalman, a 27-year-old rabbi from Jerusalem.
“I have no idea how they got the impression I was part of a Mossad
operation.”
He said he and Shenoi ran an outreach center catering
to Jewish travelers in the popular tourist destination as well as to
the city’s remaining 50 Jews, part of a once much larger community whose
origins date back to the 16th century. Zalman insisted their sole
motivation for being in the country was to provide religious services to
local members of the Jewish community
and had nothing to do with
Israel.
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