“The Arabs in Gaza and their brothers in East Jerusalem receive the same judgment. The nonsense about the illusory peace and the absence of a reaction to attempts to assault Jews encourage the Arab enemy to raise their heads and kill Jews, as happened in Jerusalem.

“The judgment for the Arabs in Gaza is the same as the judgment for their brothers in East Jerusalem—whose hands are stained with much Jewish blood—with all this entails: the prohibition on employment, counter-terrorism, house demolitions, and their expulsion from Jerusalem and the entire land of Israel.”

After the terrorist attack on the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, Rabbi Lior ruled that it was prohibited to hire Arabs.

In an interview with Eretz Israel Shelanu (The Land of Israel Is Ours), Rabbi Lior said, “Given that we are facing threats that endanger our lives, as we see in reality, Jewish law deals broadly with such issues.

“Whether it is about hiring Arabs or renting apartments to them, clearly there is a prohibition on hiring them or renting homes to them in the land of Israel.”

The rabbi’s remarks were met with stinging criticism from leftist organizations, but the rabbi said that this is about saving human lives.

At the same time yesterday the Rabbis’ Council of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza called for the demolition of the terrorist’s home and said that they maintain their opinion that it is unlawful to hire Arabs or rent homes to them.

Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel said they would organize a protest in front of the terrorist’s home until the IDF demolishes it.

Reader responses to the article

This is correct ethically speaking. Why do we support the enemy? The Arabs are our greatest enemy. Sooner or later, someone will decide it’s time to kill Jews. Haven’t we heard about Arabs killing their employers, after they lived with them for years as members of the family?—One of the people.

He’s 100% right—Itamar.

This should be done as soon as possible. Woe to the criminal and woe to his neighbor. The family of the killer should be expelled, their house demolished, and their citizenship and its attendant rights revoked. Arabs should not be hired anywhere. We should not support them, buy things from them, use their services, or allow them to set foot in Jewish towns. We need to “strangle” them economically, and revoke their right to vote and stand in elections. We need to treat them like fourth-class citizens—Eitan.

Rabbi Lior needs to be the chief rabbi of Israel—Eli.

To Eitan: I think you summed up the situation the best. Words like bullets. If we thought like this and really applied Jewish law, our lives (we Jews in Israel) would be much better and more peaceful—Moshe.

The rabbi committed a terrible mistake. With all due respect, I’m ashamed of what he said. It’s inconceivable that the rabbi is against the division of Jerusalem while also supporting punishing Jerusalemite citizens who live in sovereign Israel in East Jerusalem. The division of Jerusalem is a division between Arab East Jerusalem and Jewish West Jerusalem. This isn’t about holy sites. East Jerusalem should be given to the future Palestinian state, if it is established, and this will solve the Jerusalem issue. We need to continue the discussion about holy sites because there is a solution to every problem. East Jerusalem does not need to be part of Israel, and a solution can be found for the Jewish enclaves in East Jerusalem—David.

Say it in German, honorable rabbi. Try saying it in German. It’ll sound great—Yaniv.

Rabbi Lior was, in fact, a candidate for the post of chief rabbi, but it did not work out because of similar statements. As for the content of what he said we need to encourage Arabs to migrate to countries that can offer them a better future, like Dubai and Canada—Yoav.

Source: www.nrg.co.il

Israeli Comments

July 3, 2008

By: Site editors