Rabbi Yitzchak Shapira Arrested For Writing To Kill Arabs

The Religious Zionist movement has issued a blanket condemnation of the arrest of Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira over the book he authored. Dozens of rabbis, Knesset members, and National Religious public figures have signed a petition against the rabbi’s arrest, claiming that he expressed “a halachic opinion.”

The petition also came out against the manner in which he was arrested – in the middle of the night by dozens of policemen.

Beit El Rabbi Shlomo Aviner told Ynet on Monday that the book “Torat Hamelech” is a “halachic-academic work, a pedagogical work,” and, therefore, there is no justification to send its author to prison.
 
According to Aviner, the “‘religious laws governing the killing of a non-Jew’ outlined in the book are a legitimate stance and must be addressed via clarification of halachic sources and nothing else.”
 
‘Treated like worst of criminals’

Despite this, Rabbi Aviner said that he is against the book’s publication. “I do not think it is correct to write various halachas on killing a non-Jew, just a Swede should not write about killing a Norwegian,” he said. “It is clear that it is forbidden to kill non-Jews for naught, and it is clear that in a time of war, it is permissible to defend yourself against anyone shooting at you, even if he is a ‘good’ person.”
 
Even head of the Tzohar organization, Rabbi David Stav, known as one o the moderate forces within Religious Zionism, condemned Shapira’s arrest: “Regardless of the level of halachic legitimacy of his opinions, it is unreasonable and illogical that a rabbi in Israel be treated like the worst of criminals. For some reason, they are treating him in a way they would not dare treat public officials or even Palestinians.”
 
Rabbi Stav said that he would expect the security forces to contact Shapira and summon him to the police station honorably, and not treat him as someone who is likely to escape and evade investigation.

“Nothing new happened yesterday or today,” he mentioned. “Apparently, it was simply a desire to mock and humiliate him.”

In principle, the Tzohar chairman believes the State has the right to arrest rabbis over their halachic positions if they believe there is significant concern that they may be acted on or could realistically encourage breaking the law so as to prevent “chaos.”

“A distinction must be made between making a theoretical statement and a model for an operative plan of action,” he said. “For this matter, even if it is halachically permissible to kill Arabs, it is the State’s right to arrest whoever says this,” he said.

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A large number of police descended upon the home of Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira early Monday morning to bring him in for questioning. Shapira, head of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the Jewish settlement of Yitzhar, was arrested in January on suspicion of direct involvement in the arson attack on a mosque in the West Bank, but was released after questioning.

Israel Radio reported that Shapira was detained on Monday because of a book he published, called Torat Hamelech, which deals primarily with the halachic rulings regarding the permissibility of killing non-Jews.

The rabbi is suspected of inciting violence against non-Jews.

He was released by authorities and allowed to return home Monday after being  interrogated. Shapira reportedly told police that his work was a book regarding the interpretation of religious law and not an incitement to action.

MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) criticized the state prosecutor over the arrest of Rabbi Shapira for writings in his book Torat HaMelech on Monday.

“Shai Nitzan of the state prosecution has appointed himself as a censor. In this country it is permitted incite against and oppose Judaism in the name of “freedom of expression,” yet rabbis are led away in handcuffs for writing books,” said Ben-Ari. “Shai Nitzan is returning us to the days of Czarist Russia,” he added.

Some of the halachic guidelines mentioned at the back of Torat Hamelech in a section entitled “Conclusions – Chapter Five: The Killing of Gentiles in War,” include the following prescription, “There is a reason to kill babies [on the enemy side] even if they have not transgressed the seven Noahide Laws [to believe in God, not to commit idolatry, murder, theft or adultery, to set up a legal system, and not to tear a limb from a live animal] because of the future danger they may present, since it is assumed that they will grow up to be evil like their parents….”