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View all search resultsNU’s Israel debacle intensifies as Yahya, supporters push back
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Let’s talk: Nahdlatul Ulama’s (NU) Yahya Cholil Staquf (left) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on June 15, 2018. (Courtesy of/@Benjamin Netanyahu)
T
he dispute over Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf’s invitation of an Israel-supporting scholar has reached new heights, with more senior clerics coming out in support of Yahya and plans for further meetings underway.
Yahya, who leads the country’s largest Islamic organization, faced pressure to resign last week from NU’s supreme council, Syuriah, after inviting Peter Berkowitz, a scholar known for supporting Israel’s bombardment in Gaza, to an NU leadership training program in August.
The council ruled that the invitation was grounds for dishonorable dismissal and demanded Yahya step down within three days, warning that failure to do so would result in his removal from the chairmanship.
The move has since ignited intensified internal conflict, with Yahya rallying support from senior clerics.
On Sunday night, around 60 clerics invited by Yahya agreed that the chairman cannot be forced to resign, insisting that he and the current executive leaders should serve out their full term until the next congress.
“The ulema agreed that the executive board’s leadership must continue until the end of its term of office, which is one more year," NU’s Katib Aam (religious council secretary-general) Akhmad Said Asrori said Sunday, as quoted by NU’s website.
Read also: NU supreme leader tells Yahya to resign over pro-Israel speaker
