Rockland

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman slipped into Rockland on Wednesday night and paid his respects at the grave site of the Ribnitzer rabbi in Ramapo.

Lieberman’s tie to the rabbi is they hailed from Russia, according to Yossi Gestetner, who wrote the story of the minister’s visit on his website. Gestetner said he was sworn to secrecy until Lieberman left.

The Ribnitzer rebbe is Chaim Zanvl Abramowitz of Romania, who died in October 1995 and is buried in the Viznitz Cemetery in Monsey. He was considered a great Hasidic tzadik and miracle worker from Rybnitsa. He lived in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin’s rule. He left Russia in 1970 for Jerusalem, where he lived for a few years before moving to the United States. He lived in Miami, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and settled in Monsey.

Thousands attended his funeral and a commemoration in 2010, according to an article on the website Vos Iz Neias.

Lieberman went from Rockland to the United Nations on Thursday. The foreign minister is one of Israel’s more hawkish officials in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He showed it, according to press reports.

Lieberman met with 15 United Nations ambassadors today and expressed concern that Hezbollah will use a provocation against Israel as a means of distraction from the violence in Syria, according to the reports. He also also slammed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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