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A member of the Israeli Knesset, Pnina Tamano-Shata, the first ever Israeli parliamentarian of Ethiopian origin, told Ynet that she finds Yosef’s comments \"degrading.\" She reminded the rabbi that his father and another of Israel's chief rabbis, the late Ovadia Yosef, supported the immigration of Ethiopian Jews, who are black, to Israel.

Pro-Palestinian activist group BDS South Africa issued a statement claiming the \"vile\" comments are an example of Israel’s treatment of African asylum seekers and its Palestinian neighbors, \"The Israeli Rabbi’s views are vile but, sadly, also a reflection of Israel’s ongoing and wide-spread racism against Africans as well as the indigenous Palestinian people.\"

Israel has two chief rabbis, one heading the Sephardi community that includes Jews who had immigrated to Israel from Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the other heading the Ashkenazi community comprised of Jews who have mostly emigrated from Europe.

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