Israeli Chief Rabbi to Troops: Ignore Courts, Commander, Just Kill Armed Palestinians

Israeli Army Chief of Staff Condemned for Opposition to Needless Killings

Amid ongoing condemnation of Israeli Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, who last month publicly declared “I don’t want a soldier to empty a magazine on a girl with scissors,” Israel’s chief Sepherdic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef urged soldiers to ignore the Army Chief’s orders, as well as court rulings, and just kill any “armed Palestinians” they find.

Yosef argued that it was a religious imperative for all Jews to kill armed enemies and to be unconcerned with the rulings of the High Court or other officials, urging that the killings would serve as a deterrent.

Yosef’s comments came amid a sermon on whether or not it is permissible to kill Amalekites on the Sabbath. Amalekites are an enemy of the Hebrews from the Old Testament, though there exists no archaeological evidence they ever actually existed. The book of Deuteronomy admonishes Jews to exterminate all Amalekites.

Oddly, Yosef insisted it was impossible to know who is or isn’t an Amalekite, and thus urged those Israel “isn’t sure” about to be put in prison for life,, pending the return of the Messiah, who can decide if he is or isn’t Amalekite, “and then we can kill them.” This stood in stark contrast to his admonishment that the military kill people.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.