On the day that the Israeli army revealed that a group of its religious soldiers had entered combat operations, it was revealed that religious lessons are being offered by the head of the Biblical Religious Institute “Yeshivah Shirat Moshe” in the city of Jaffa, Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, to his students who are serving in the Israeli army after their graduation, urging them In which massacres were committed against the residents of Gaza, considering that according to Jewish law, all residents of Gaza must be killed. When asked about the elderly and children, he replied that “the same applies to them.”
The rabbi’s statements, recorded in audio and video, came during a conference held at the aforementioned institute on Thursday evening. According to what was reported on the Ynet website, affiliated with the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, on Friday, this rabbi focused on the treatment towards the civilian population in Gaza during the war, but he was cautious at first, and said: “Because this is a sensitive topic, and they informed me that it would be published.” On the Internet, I want to make up my mind and say that the conclusion is that only what was stated in the instructions of the Israeli army should be implemented. But he later got carried away and said, “The war that Israel is waging against Gaza is a religious war.” The basic law in a religious war, in this case in Gaza, is that “you shall not leave any of them alive” (Deuteronomy), and if you do not kill them? They will kill you. Today’s saboteurs are the children who were kept alive in the previous military operation. Women are practically the ones who produce the saboteurs.”
He added that the equation is: “Either you or them.” (…) (Whoever comes to kill you, go ahead and kill him) (Babylonian Talmud). This applies not only to the 14- or 16-year-old boy, or the 20- or 30-year-old man who points a gun at you, but also to the future generation. This also applies to those who produce the future generation as well. Because in reality there is no difference.
In response to a question about the killing of the elderly in Gaza, Mali said: “There is a difference between a civilian population in other places and a civilian population in Gaza. In Gaza, according to estimates, 95-98 percent want to annihilate us.” When asked: “Children too?” he replied: “The same thing.” You cannot do this with the Torah. Today he is a child, tomorrow he is a fighter. There are no questions here. Today’s saboteurs were 8-year-old children in the previous military operation. So, you cannot be satisfied here. Therefore, the ruling on Gaza is different here.”
It is noteworthy that Mali was one of the founders of the aforementioned religious institute in Jaffa in 2008. The institute turned into a station for bringing extremist Jewish settlers from their settlements in the West Bank to live in Jaffa in order to completely Judaize it and increase the number of Jews to become a majority there. Then this initiative turned into a phenomenon in all cities. Where Arabs and Jews live as neighbors, such as Lydda, Ramla, Acre, and Haifa. Some of them played a role in the clashes that occurred between Jews and Arabs in May 2021, during the Israeli military operation against Gaza at the time.
The Secretary-General of the Israeli Labor Party, Merav Michaeli, denounced these statements and demanded that the government remove him from his position as a religious leader and state employee in Jaffa, and to stop cooperating with his institute, which obtained the status of a “military college” that supplies the Israeli army with soldiers. She said: “It is unthinkable that anyone should be allowed to use the Torah to show that Israel and the Jewish people are thirsty for blood and revenge.” Mali’s statements considered a terrorist operation against Israel’s security “because it will become media material that our enemies will use against us in the international arena.”
The seriousness of the cleric’s statements, Mali, increases with the Israeli army’s announcement that a division of religious Jewish soldiers has entered the Gaza Strip to carry out combat and engineering clearance operations in the northern region of Gaza since the beginning of the week. These soldiers revere their religious leaders and sanctify what they tell them. If soldiers and officers are carrying out mass killings and destruction under official military orders, then adding a religious fatwa to legalize the killing of even children, women and the elderly could lead to total chaos.
It is noteworthy that two British newspapers published a report about “American forces operating within the Israeli army and abusing the Palestinians.” Pictures were published of these soldiers guarding blindfolded Palestinian detainees, sitting on the ground while shackled, and mocking them. These soldiers call themselves “Hamas Hunters Club” on Instagram. They are wearing a T-shirt that says in English: “Americans serve in the Israeli army.”
The Israeli army responded by saying that it “expects its soldiers to work responsibly and uphold values, whether during war or on normal days.” The Israeli army denounces every action that does not adhere to these values.”
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