Aspiring rabbi sues Jews for Jesus for defamation over use of blurred stock photo in social media post

Attorneys: Lawsuit is 'meritless,' 'destined for dismissal'

Attorneys say a defamation lawsuit filed by an aspiring rabbi claiming a social media post with his image falsely identified him with the religious organization Jews for Jesus is "meritless" and "destined for dismissal.”

The controversy stems from a social media post by Jews for Jesus following the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, in which the group used a royalty-free stock image of an Israeli soldier to highlight their efforts to distribute Bibles. The case, originally filed in the Superior Court of San Francisco County, was recently moved to the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, where Liberty Counsel, the legal group representing the defendants, intends to fight what they call a baseless claim rooted in a blurred stock photo.

The plaintiff, Ariel Amitay, an Orthodox Jewish teacher, alleges that he is the soldier in the photo and claims that its use by Jews for Jesus falsely implied his affiliation with the group.

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RileyG said:

I never understood why they continue to embrace their old identity if they came to Christ? Maybe it’s a cultural thing? I can understand why the rabbi was offended.

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Just because they accept Jesus as Messiah, it does not erase their ethnicity.