Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau: “Despite his known disapproval of any form of anti-Semitism in Cuba he was friends with the archenemies of the Jewish nation including Yasser Arafat”

Much has been said of Fidel Castro’s relations with his nation’s 1000 Jews.

Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau Israel’s former chief rabbi met Castro in 1993 two years after Cuba amended its constitution redefining itself as a secular state not an atheistic one. In a 2008 interview Rabbi Lau told Mishpacha he found Castro to be a riddle: “Mainly due to the paradoxical fact that despite his known disapproval of any form of anti-Semitism in Cuba he was friends with the archenemies of the Jewish nation including Yasser Arafat.”

When Rabbi Lau tried to probe Castro was dismissive: “The Arabs give me oil.”

Castro refused Rabbi Lau’s request for permission to import kosher meat. He said that would be showing favoritism to Jews in a country where meat is rationed. However Castro did permit a shipment of matzos calling it “a religious product and not food.”

Raul Castro began a process of economic liberalization in 2011. The pace picked up after President Obama began normalizing relations two years ago but other than the tourist industry Cuba’s economy is still stuck in the doldrums.

Cuba won’t find America friendlier under Donald Trump. Upon learning of Castro’s death Trump tweeted: “Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads theft unimaginable suffering poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.”

United States relations with Cuba are still governed by the 1996 Helms-Burton Act which keeps the longstanding US embargo in place until the Cuban government disbands some of its nastier intelligence and security institutions establishes an independent judiciary holds competitive elections and shows respect for civil liberties.

Raul Castro no spring chicken himself is due to step down in 2018 when he reaches age 87. But his handpicked replacement Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel is another hard-line Marxist cut from Cuba’s revolutionary mold. So don’t expect any of the reforms the US has demanded to improve relations any time soon.