Violent remarks against secular Jews made by potential Sefardi chief
rabbi candidate Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu in 2005 in the aftermath Israel’s
Disengagement from the Gaza Strip were summarily removed without notice
or explanation from the Zionist Orthodox news website Kipa this week
after those remarks were highlighted and publicized by the Center for
the Renewal of Israeli Democracy and were widely disseminated through
social media networks.
“Take Revenge…Smash In Their Heads” Do Kiruv On Their Children, Candidate For Sefardi Chief Rabbi Said About Non-Orthodox Israelis
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Violent remarks against secular Jews made by potential Sefardi chief rabbi candidate Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu in 2005 in the aftermath Israel’s Disengagement from the Gaza Strip were summarily removed without notice or explanation from the Zionist Orthodox news website Kipa this week after those remarks were highlighted and publicized by the Center for the Renewal of Israeli Democracy and were widely disseminated through social media networks, Ha’aretz reported. The Center for
the Renewal of Israeli Democracy is often associated with Israel's secular left.
The remarks were written by Eliyahu, who is chief rabbi of the northern Israeli city of Sefat, were censored from the Ask The Rabbi column archives after Israel’s attorney general announced that, due to Eliyahu’s long history of racist remarks and actions, if Eliyahu formally declares his candidacy for Sefardi chief rabbi of Israel, he would summon Eliyahu and require him to explain them – particularly a series of anti-Arab remarks and actions Eliyahu took in 2010 to try to force homeowners not to rent or sell homes to Arabs in the city. The AG has the power bar Eliyahu from running for the chief rabbi position.
In the Kipa Ask The Rabbi Column, a woman told Eliyahu that her friend “had a lot of pent-up anger [against the government]” after the Disengagement from Gaza was carried out. She asked Eliyahu for a recommendation on how her friend could “channel his anger in a positive direction.”
Eliyahu reportedly replied: “Take revenge! Avenge the secularists who have brought this disaster upon us. Avenge the evil associated with this folly. Return them to the bosom of religion, attack them, smash in their heads. Restore them and their children to the faith. Do this wisely, with sensitivity and determination.”
Eliyahu has previously been investigated and charged for similar remarks about Arabs.
Ronen Tzur, who serves as a communications consultant for Eliyahu, defended Eliyahu.
“The Rabbi reacted like a normal human being at a time when tempers were aroused everywhere, so taking his words out of context is inappropriate. The Rabbi is a Jewish and Israeli patriot, espousing the ways of the Torah and the protection of Israel.…[Eliyahu will be] presenting his full views shortly, so the public will be able to identify with him ahead of his possible nomination as chief rabbi,” Tzur said.
Yesterday, Eliyahu met Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel of the Zionist Orthodox hard right wing Habayit Hayehudi Party, who publicly endorsed his candidacy. The majority of Habayit Hayehudi Party MKs reportedly support Eliyahu’s candidacy, despite his remarks.
Eliyahu’s father, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, was a Jewish terrorist who was arrested and convicted in a failed plot to bomb the Knesset in an attempt to force Israel to adopt halakha (Orthodox Jewish law) as its law code, much in the way some Islamic countries have Sharia Law as their law code.
But Mordechai Eliyahu was soon pardoned by a government that was hoping to foster national unity, although his views had not changed and he had not in any way repented. He went on to hold several positions in the state’s rabbinical system, eventually becoming Sefardi chief rabbi of Israel.
Mordechai Eliyahu, who died in 2010, was the go-to rabbi for Jewish extremists and terrorists, and the defacto chief rabbi of the West Bank settler movement.