Hundreds of rabbis urge Israeli regime to stop Gaza starvation tactics
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Hundreds of Jewish rabbis called on the Israeli regime to stop using starvation in Gaza, denouncing the deaths of civilians and worsening malnutrition as mass killing.
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Members of Neturei Karta, an international anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Jewish organization, march outside of the US Capitol as they protest the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Washington. (AP)
According to The Times of Israel, hundreds of Jewish rabbis have issued a public letter urging the Israeli occupation to immediately halt the use of starvation as a weapon in the Gaza Strip. The statement, signed by rabbis from various communities, reflects growing moral opposition from within the global Jewish religious sphere.
The signatories declared that they "cannot remain silent as the death toll in Gaza rises and malnutrition worsens," emphasizing that the current conditions amount to "the mass killing of civilians, including women and children."
Protest in Haifa met with arrests
In a related development, Israeli occupation forces arrested around 24 activists last Thursday during a peaceful protest in the occupied city of Haifa. The demonstrators had gathered to denounce the ongoing famine and large-scale destruction in Gaza, demanding an immediate end to the war.
Activists at the rally held photos of children from Gaza and called for a halt to what they described as a campaign of collective punishment and systematic starvation.
The protest and rabbinical letter reflect rising domestic and international concern over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where civilians continue to suffer under siege conditions and aid restrictions imposed by the Israeli regime.
'Israel has no right to exist'
Last year, "Israel's" chief Sephardic rabbis have officially instructed Yeshiva students to neglect army recruitment offices, slamming the latest mandatory conscription law discussed within the Knesset, and encouraging students to "favor prison and budget deprivations than cooperating with the Israeli army."
They stated that the law aimed to "destroy the Torah".
Rabbi Dov Landau, one of the chief rabbis of the Haredim, aggressively attacked Security Minister Yoav Gallant's decision to call up 3,000 Haredi Jews for military service, saying "A state that recruits yeshivas has no right to exist."
"The army is at war with us, and wants to usurp the Torah students' rights, which is complete suicide," he said, adding, "In the absence of the regime, and amid the army's war against us, what is the point of standing for what? The government is completely and absolutely against us."
Upon discourse regarding the mandatory conscription of the ultra-orthodox community, the chief rabbis convened and urged the Haredim to divert from draft orders and abstain from going to recruitment offices.
Rabbi urges followers to leave Zionist institutions
The Jerusalem Post reported in February that Rabbi Dov Landau, a senior figure in the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community in "Israel," instructed representatives of the Degel HaTorah political party to withdraw from all Zionist institutions due to deep ideological differences with the secular foundations of Zionism.
In a letter published today in the ultra-Orthodox daily Yated Ne'eman, Landau wrote, "Zionism is a movement whose purpose is to establish the Jewish people on an explicitly secular foundation, rooted in heresy and rebellion against divine sovereignty," adding, "There is no allowance to participate with them, serve in any role within their institutions, or vote in their elections in any form whatsoever."
He emphasized that participating in these institutions supports beliefs that "contradict traditional Jewish values, warning that it results in the desecration of God's name."
The Jerusalem Post explains that Landau's statement comes amid wider discussions about the role of ultra-Orthodox and religious communities in Zionist institutions. It notes that the World Zionist Organization (WZO), established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl, oversees key institutions like the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Jewish National Fund (JNF), and Keren Hayesod.
