Prominent Israeli rabbi calls for hanging sons of Palestinian gunmen as he quotes biblical Book of Esther.
TEL AVIV – A prominent Israeli rabbi has called on the state to exact “terrible revenge” against Palestinians for the recent killing of eight teenagers at a religious school in occupied Jerusalem, drawing heavy criticism.
In an article on the front page of a Jewish nationalist pamphlet, Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of the northern city of Safed, blasted the state for failing to avenge the March 6 attack.
“Two weeks have passed since the attack in Merkaz Harav Yeshiva and we have yet to hear of an Israeli retribution. Something has gone wrong with the decision makers. This used to be one of Israel’s basic policies,” he wrote in the latest issue of the weekly publication.
“We must call a spade a spade. Revenge, revenge, revenge. We must not forget. We must exact terrible revenge for the Merkaz Harav attack.
“I am talking about the state. It should hurt them until they yell ‘enough.’ Until they fall flat on the ground and cry ‘help,'” Eliyahu wrote.
The pamphlet — Eretz Yisrael Shelanu (The Land of Israel is Ours in Hebrew) — is distributed in many synagogues across the country, mainly in the illegal West Bank settlements.
Alaa Hisham Abu Dheim, 25, from occupied east Jerusalem, mowed down eight students at the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva in the deadliest attack in the Holy City in four years.
Several left-wing movements and rights groups appealed to Attorney General Menahem Mazuz to take legal action against Eliyahu.
“Calls for revenge against Arabs are incitement for racism and violence and we expect the justice system to stem this,” the Mossawa advocacy centre for Arab citizens in Israel said.
Ten days after the attack, police clashed with hundreds of ultra-nationalist Israelis who marched through the streets of the Arab neighbourhood of Abu Tur in east Jerusalem calling for revenge.
Eliyahu called for members of the Palestinian gunman’s family to be “hang … from a high tree.”
“A country that really cares about its citizens should hang the 10 sons of the terrorist from a high tree,” he wrote, quoting the biblical Book of Esther. The original text referred to the book’s villain, Haman, who plotted to kill all the Jews in Persia before he was foiled.
Eliyahu said he was using the reference as a “metaphor,” but said he supported taking revenge against people who attack Jews. “I don’t apologize for anything and stand behind everything I wrote,” he said.
Just after the attack, hundreds of Jewish seminarians gathered outside the yeshiva and chanted: “Death to Arabs.” Days later, a group of mourners marched toward the home of the Palestinian shooter, smashing car windows before being stopped by police.
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