BREAKING NEWS

Safed chief rabbi defends ban on renting homes to Arabs

The religious ban on selling or renting land to Arabs has a basis in Israeli law, Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu told Israel Radio on Wednesday.
Eliyahu pointed in particular to the Jewish National Fund law which mandates finding Jewish owners for land sold by non-Jews. The rabbi also stated that the  his religious decree is supported by the government's policy to "Judaize" the Galilee region.
Rabbi Eliayhu's comments came as part of his response rejecting the letter sent to him by 235 Israeli academics criticizing his religious decision to encouraging Jews not to sell or rent apartments to Arabs in the northern city.