Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, the head of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva, was arrested Tuesday in connection with the investigation into the December 11 mosque attack in the village of Yasuf. The head of the yeshiva in the Yitzhar settlement near Nablus was called in for questioning on Sunday and arrived on Wednesday. However, Shapira refused to answer investigators' questions and was therefore placed under arrest. He is currently being investigated by police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Service). A spokesman for Judea and Samaria District police told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that the rabbi was requested by police to appear before investigators at a time of his convenience. Last month, the well-known rabbi made headlines when petitioners called on the High Court of Justice to indict him, together with Rabbi Yosef Elitzur - another teacher at the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva - for writing and marketing a book in which they say Jewish religious law permits the murder of non-Jewish babies in times of war and that at times it is preferable to deliberately kill innocent people as a deterrent measure. "There are reasons for killing babies even though they have not violated the seven sins, because of the danger that will arise if they are allowed to live and grow up to be as evil as their parents," the petitioners quoted from the book, The Torah of the King.
