The “Ma’ale Eliyahu” Yeshiva in Tel Aviv continues to gain great support in Israel following the aggressive smear campaign against it. Now, the fight against the existence of the “Unity Yeshiva” is moving to the international arena.

The head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Haim Gantz, embarked on a trip in the USA, visiting the cities of New York and Los Angeles to gather support for the yeshiva. “The warm embrace we received from all the people of Israel also surrounds us abroad,” he said,
Tel Aviv’s “Ma’ale Eliyahu” yeshiva has recently suffered a defamation campaign by extremist elements, due to the Tel Aviv municipality’s plan to move them to another complex, about 500 meters from the area where they are now located, where there is currently a synagogue. Following the incitement and anti-Semitic demonstrations against the yeshiva, the municipality decided to halt the process.
At first, the protesters claimed that they were against moving the yeshiva because there would be no room for the hundreds of students of the yeshiva on the little street. However, some of the demonstrators against the yeshiva revealed the real reason for the demonstration, carrying signs with the words, “We have no tolerance for Messianic racists.”
The extremists have also painted Rabbi Gantz’s picture black and white and put signs of donkeys on their faces against the members of the yeshiva.
Rabbi Haim Gantz, founder of the yeshiva, said: “I founded the yeshiva immediately after [former Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin’s murder, with the goal that we would be one people, together. The students live in complete harmony with the residents. Everyone enlists in the army. They do reserve duty, pay taxes. This is a Zionist yeshiva. We have an excellent relationship with the neighborhood residents. These demonstrations are a big surprise from our point of view – and unfortunately the politics and the rift in the people has reached here as well. But we will continue to spread good and a connection between all the residents of the city – because this is our mission.”

The decision not to move the yeshiva has caused great damage to the yeshiva, both economically and psychologically, as the extremists who wish to remove Judaism and the Torah from Tel Aviv take over the public space.
The municipality’s decision evoked many echoes, and the yeshiva raised about NIS 5.6 million in a crowdfunding campaign for the construction of a future permanent structure.
Over 16,000 thousand people from across the political and social spectrum participated in the fundraising campaign. Among them are former Defense Minister MK Benny Gantz (National Unity), Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf (United Torah Judaism), former Justice Minister MK Gideon Sa’ar (National Unity), former Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana (National Unity), former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, journalists Ilana Dayan, Dan Margalit, Yair Cherki, and many others. After the tremendous success and tremendous support in Israel, Rabbi Gantz embarked on a recruitment and advocacy campaign in the United States with the message: “The Ma’ale Eliyahu Yeshiva will not fall because of brotherly hatred!”
As of today, the yeshiva’s future is still unclear – there is no permanent structure for the yeshiva, and the political parties are trying to undermine the municipality.
Now Rabbi Gantz is in the United States to mobilize the local communities in support of the yeshiva, urging unity in Israel and emphasizing that no place should be given to anti-Semitism in the heart of Tel Aviv.
“The warm embrace we received from all the people of Israel also surrounds us abroad and we will honor the Jews of the United States to take part in the path of unity that we represent in the city of Tel Aviv, our yeshiva is here to stay because it is part of the city’s identity,” Rabbi Haim Gantz said.