‘Kings Torah’ Author Indicted for Incitement

Jerusalem, 13 June, 2017 (TPS) -- Israeli Police filed an indictment Tuesday against Rabbi Yosef Elitzur, a far-right activist and one of the authors of “Torat HaMelech – The King’s Torah” – a controversial book published in 2009 that discusses the halachic (Jewish religious law) conditions under which it is permissible to kill non-Jews.

The move comes two years after the Israel Religious Action Committee asked Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to press charges against Rabbi Elitzur and a year-and-a-half after the group asked the Supreme Court at the end of 2015 to force the state to respond.

“It is high time Israel ceases to tolerate the intolerable,” said Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of IRAC.” A rabbi like him contaminates our Jewish tradition and pollutes our democracy. Freedom of speech ends when hate and violence are preached and practiced.”

Attorney Orly Erez-Likhovski, Director of IRAC’s legal department, added “This is a worthy decision, even if considerably delayed. Rabbi Elitzur spoke and published many slandering statements that fell on the attentive ears of his students – some of whom were involved in acts of terror against Arabs. Only an aggressive approach towards the phenomenon will cause rabbis to stop exploiting their status to preach hatred”.