RAMALLAH: The Israeli police on Thursday arrested Rabbi Yosef Elitzur from the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar on suspicion of incitement for violence against non-Jews, possession of racist text and possession of material that incites violence. The police said that Elitzur was questioned by investigators from the international crimes unit. It added that Elitzur was scheduled to be brought before the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court for a remand hearing later on Thursday.
According to the police, the arrest comes as part of the investigation into the book “Torat Hamelech” (“The King’s Torah”), co-written by Elitzur and Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira of Yitzhar and was published in November.
The preface of the book states that it is forbidden to kill non-Jews but the book then describes the context in which it is permitted to do so.
According to the book, it is permissible to kill a non-Jew who threatens Israel even if the person is classified as a “righteous gentile.” The book says that any gentile who supports war against Israel can also be killed.
“It is permissible to kill the Righteous among Nations even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation,” Shapira wrote, adding: “If we kill a Gentile who has sinned or has violated one of the seven commandments — because we care about the commandments — there is nothing wrong with the murder.”
The book has attracted a firestorm of controversy since being published in 2009, and police have questioned Shapira over the texts last month, while raiding the Od Yosef Chai seminary in Yitzhar in order to confiscate copies of the text.
However, dozens of rabbis, educators, public figures and right-wing activists attended on Wednesday a support rally for Rabbis Dov Lior and Yaakov Yosef, who refused to report for police questioning over their endorsement of the book.
In recent months Jewish occupiers have increased their acts of harassment against Palestinians in the West Bank as a “price tag” for the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on last November that a 10-month partial moratorium on new housing starts in the West Bank settlements. Netanyahu said the move was in a bid to revive the peace talks with the Palestinians.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been resisting pressure to engage in direct negotiations with Israel before it stops settlement constructions in East Jerusalem completely. In May, the US administration launched indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians, but the discussions failed to bridge the gaps over the borders of the future Palestinian state.
