Supreme Court Orders Disciplinary Hearing For Tzfat Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Israeli Supreme Court ruled Monday that Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the rabbi of Tzfat, will undergo a disciplinary hearing in the wake of numerous statements he has made against the courts and enforcement authorities and against Israeli Arabs.

The court ruling came in the wake of a petition by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and the Reform Center who complained that Rabbi Eliyahu had repeatedly criticized the Arab public’s presence in Tzfat, as well as the LGBTQ community and female service in the IDF. Rabbi Eliyahu has also been vociferous in his criticism of the Supreme Court.

The judges claimed that Rabbi Eliyahu had not acted in accordance with his status as an official town rabbi and had made political statements and criticized state institutions, including the courts.

Judge Alex Stein claimed that some of Rabbi Eliyahu’s statements could be considered disciplinary offences, such as his call for vengeance against any terrorist who raises a hand against Jews. Rabbi Eliyahu stated that “It is important that the law state that a terrorist coming to kill Jews may be summarily executed. It is incumbent on soldiers, police and civilians to exterminate the (terrorists)… not to neutralize them or overcome them but to remove them from the world. Whoever protects them brings more bloodshed to the world.”

Moreover Rabbi Eliyahu criticized the “wild creatures on Temple Mount who hate peace and we in our stupidity give them the right to rule there. He added “why shouldn’t they exploit us there is no nation more exploitative than them, we give them food, electricity, water and they spit in our faces and stab the flower of our youths.”

Rabbi Eliyahu added that “the Arabs are the same Arabs and the sea is the same sea…whereever they see Jews they do damage. There were Jews in Germany who got beaten up by Arabs, it doesn’t matter where you are….wherever they see Jews they kill, they don’t care whether its in Israel or abroad, in Tel Aviv, Elon Moreh, Paris or Buenos Aires, it doesn’t matter to them.”

The judges said that when a public servant criticizes state institutions and policies he “sows anarchy” and “undermines the public’s trust in the public service.”

The disciplinary court is comprised of a former rabbinical judge from the Beth Din as well as two town rabbis. One of the judges expressed concern that this court, which is made up solely of rabbinical figures,would be ineffective as a disciplinary court.

Rabbi Eliyahu’s bureau responded by declaring that “this is a political court. If it were discussing the freedom of speech of its own members there would be no problem to present a guillotine or a prime minister hanging from a rope [ as has been done over the past year’s demonstrations against prime minister Netanyahu ]. If it is discussing rabbis or religious figures it will bend the law in order to cancel this basic right. We will not cease talking and will not stop stating the truth. The public has no faith in this court.”

MK Betzalel Smotrich (Yemina) said that “in a perfect world Judge Esther Chayut and the other supreme court justices would have undergone disciplinary action tens of times for their political skewing of Israeli justice. Once again, in a ruling which attempts to shut people’s mouths, a town rabbi and Talmid Chacham who is a public figure is placed on trial for his opinions. They shut mouths and attempt to intimidate rabbis, they shut mouths on the right or for anyone who questions their hegemony. Soon they will shut the mouths of any public official on the wrong side politically.”

Smotrich stressed his support for Rabbi Eliyahu for his “courage, independence, truth and uprightness” and added that “they will not decide the boundaries of speech for Israel’s rabbis.”