NOVANEWS
Israel Hayom
Torat Hamelech, a book on the Halachah and its treatment of non-Jews during war, continues to generate controversy, some four years after its publication.
The book, which literally means “The Way of the King,” was authored by two prominent national religious rabbis — Rabbis Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef Elitzur — who allegedly make the case that killing noncombatant gentiles during war was sanctioned by the Bible under certain circumstances.
On Wednesday, the High Court of Justice said Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein and the State Attorney’s Office have three months to explain why no charges were pressed against the authors of the book. The ruling comes after the Israel Religious Action Center and the Coalition Against racism in Israel petitioned the court to have Weinstein overruled. Weinstein will also have to explain his decision not to prosecute Kiryat Arba and Hebron Chief Rabbi Dov Lior and the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva head Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, who endorsed the book. Rabbinical endorsements are usually written by well-respected figures to elevate the author’s standing and vouch for his or her credibility.
According to the petitioners, they turned to the court only after repeated pleas to the State Attorney’s Office and the attorney-general were ignored. According to their lawyer, Leora Bechor, the rabbis should be put on trial for inciting to racism. “The book is laden with highly racist comments that incite to violence against Arabs and other minorities in Israel; this also amounts to sedition.”
Yuval Roitman, who represented the state, told the court that the petitioners failed to show there was an error in the way the case was handled or that Weinstein’s decision to shut the case merited the court’s intervention. He added that Weinstein, “even as he announced his decision, said the “book should be condemned and denounced.”
