National-religious rabbis issue letter of support for administrative detainees
There are currently three people who have been put on administrative detention, Meir Ettinger, Evyatar Slonim and Mordechai Meir.
By JEREMY SHARONUpdated: AUGUST 31, 2015 01:37Rabbi Dov Lior(photo credit: Courtesy)
Seventeen rabbis, including two of the most prominent and radical rabbinical leaders of the hardline sector of the national- religious community Rabbis Yitzhak Ginsburg and Dov Lior, published on Sunday a letter of support for the Jewish terrorist suspects arrested by the security services in recent days and weeks.“In recent days, directives for administrative detention, restrictions and restraining orders have been issued without trial against many Jewish youths who have worked for the Jewish people and the Land of Israel,” the rabbis wrote.“This is a mark of shame against those who cannot distinguish between the enemy and the beloved, who are cruel to the merciful and merciful to the cruel.“And to all our brothers of the Jewish people we call out and say: Do not stand idly by! Join in support of the administrative detainees, their families, and their righteous struggle.”The rabbis added to the bottom of their missive that one can use money designated for charity to help towards the cause of these detainees.There are currently three people who have been put on administrative detention, Meir Ettinger, Evyatar Slonim and Mordechai Meir.Approximately 15 administrative directives for house arrest and restraining orders have been issued against various suspects in recent weeks.Lior is one of the most influential and respected rabbis in the conservative wing of the national-religious community and the settler movement, as well as one of the most hardline.Lior wrote an approbation for a book called The King’s Torah that was co-written in 2009 by Rabbis Yitzhak Shapira and Rabbi Yosef Elitzur, which states that non-Jewish non-combatants, including children, may be preemptively killed in a time of war.Shapira, Lior and others were investigated by the police for incitement and the Attorney- General’s Office opened an investigation into the issue but concluded that works pertaining to rulings on religious law or publications of religious sources should not be dealt with in criminal proceedings in order to preserve freedom of religion.Lior also supported the proposal for soldiers to refuse orders during the evacuation of the settlements in the Gaza Strip in 2005, and issued a ruling saying that it is forbidden to rent a house to Arabs in Israel or to employ Arabs in 2008, among other controversial positions and rulings.Ginsburg is the president of the Od Yosef Hai yeshiva in Yitzhar, where Shapira serves as a dean and where Elitzur also teaches. He was also questioned by the police in 2010 in relation to the King’s Torah.Among the other 15 rabbis who were also signature to the letter were Rabbis Yisrael Ariel, David Druckman and the chief rabbi of Kiryat Motzkin.Ariel is the founder and director of the Temple Institute and a former member of the Kach Party, which was banned for its racist policies in 1988. Ariel ran as the second candidate on the party’s list in the 1981 general election behind its former leader, Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was assassinated in 1991.Druckman called on soldiers to refuse orders during the Gaza disengagement, and in January this year heavily criticized Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon for seeking to define the extremist Lehava organization as a terrorist group.
