• Published 00:43 27.02.11
  • Latest update 00:43 27.02.11

The racist entity that is taking over Israel must be toppled

The atrocities in Libya send an unequivocal message to the world: Patriotism lies with democracy, not with the regime.

By Sefi Rachlevsky

The wretchedness of the law in the face of Rabbi Dov Lior has many meanings, and Lior's refusal to be interrogated over his support for "The King's Torah - The Laws for Killing Gentiles" - only marginally gets at the heart of the matter.

Thirty years ago, the terrorist organization known as the "Jewish Underground" was set up with the purpose of killing Arabs. The group's head of operations, Menachem Livni - who was convicted on multiple counts of murder before being pardoned by the regime - testified at the time that the living spirit, the initiator, the religious instructor and the coordinator of the murders was Lior.

Rabbi Dov Lior

Rabbi Dov Lior.

Photo by: Kobi Gideon

This was true for the murders the underground carried out, and was also true for the pressure he put on the murderers to blow up buses and their passengers. The law states that someone who dispatches murders should receive multiple life sentences, along with additional time for organizing the crime. But thanks to instruction from higher up, Lior was never imprisoned, put to trial and or even properly interrogated.

And so he continued: Baruch Goldstein, who murdered 29 Muslims at prayer in Hebron in 1994, saw Lior as his rabbi and counselor. After the Tomb of the Patriarchs massacre, Lior declared that "Baruch Goldstein was holier than the saints of the Holocaust." The living spirit behind the religious edicts against Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, which lead to his 1995 assassination, was also, according to testimonies, Lior. Rabin's assassin frequented Hebron, where he used to see Lior.

Rabbi Lior is not in prison. He currently serves as a municipal rabbi, the head of a Jewish court and the dean of a large IDF yeshiva. He also heads the Judea and Samaria rabbis committee. Thousands adhere to his commands, hundreds of thousands are taught his ideology, tens of thousands of shekels are paid to him by the Israeli taxpayer every month.

This utter aberration is no accident. The regime chose Lior. Tel Aviv is a dream world. The actual reality that has been instilled in Israel is Lior. Under King Lior, Israel has built a world where the Jews are citizens and the Arabs are not, both in the occupied territories and in Jerusalem; where a Jewish man is a citizen and his Arab neighbor is not. Most Jewish first-graders attend ultra-Orthodox and religious schools. The majority of them are educated along the lines of "The King's Torah." A Jew is human. A non-Jew is non-human. "Thou shalt not kill" does not apply to non-Jews. And this is not delivered in the form of incitement, but as a simple statement of a fact. As simple as calling a chair a chair.

There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Either you're with Lior or you're against him. The rabbis who chose him are Lior. The education minister - who visited the Tomb of the Patriarchs hand in hand with the convicted terrorist Livni, whom he seeks to put in charge of educating the children who will be brought to Hebron - is Lior. The prime minister, who enslaves Israel to the racist world of the settlements, is Lior.

The atrocities in Libya send an unequivocal message to the world: Patriotism lies with democracy, not with the regime. Citizens are allowed to fight an arbitrary, racist rule. Seventy years after the atrocities in Europe, the Middle East is sending a clear message about the moral necessity of international intervention to promote democracy and civil rights, and combat racism and oppression.

Israel, because of the history of violence against Jews, should have been the leader on that path, but official Israel instead chose the opposite direction - the Liorian one.

Faced with the inanity and injustice of the regime, every Israeli citizen and every friend of Israel outside of its border - whether Jewish or not - should support a democratic Israel in line with the promises of the Declaration of Independence, within its independence borders, known today as the 1967 borders. The racist entity that is taking over Israel must be resisted. This regime, too, must be toppled.

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  • 10. 7 160
    " its independence borders, known today as the 1967 borders"
    • alexander
    • 27.02.11
    • 13:25

    Ridiculous . Chapter one in the armstice agreements specifically declares that the armstice lines are not permanent borders. The declaration of Independence rel;ated to the the UN resolution to create a jewish state within Eretz -Ysrael .No Zionist leader referred to the the 49 lines as permanent borders (unless , according to the Mapay leaders , the arab states accept Israel's sovereignity and maintain peaceful relations with her ). Concerning Mr Rachlevski's comments about racism in Israel , they are exaggerated to say the least and very improper.

  • 9. 200 2
    captured Arab terrorists could be used to conduct medical experiments
    • had enough
    • 27.02.11
    • 11:56

    This 'Rabbi' actually said that. How is he still a Rabbi?

  • 8. 139 4
    But how is possible that only Sefi Rachlevski calls this scum by his name?
    • dani.a
    • 27.02.11
    • 11:32

    We have a "free" media but never i read on the influence the scum has.Probably the media people see him as "spiritual leader".Rachlevski is right when he calls prime-ministers and minister of education Liors but Lior has the name of the prime ministers and ministers of education.So if is all in the same hotchpotch who will topple them?Brilliant article.

  • 7. 185 5
    A wake up call
    • Oz
    • 27.02.11
    • 11:06

    Bit hard for Israel to maintain the myth that it is a blameless victim of extraordinary violence by those nasty Palestinians whose land they occupied for decades when you have Rabbis and their followers advocating terrorism, blowing up buses and telling the 'Chosen' that it is OK to murder non-Jews. Israelis might be happy to live with this but don't expect continued blind support from Western liberal governments - their hypocrisy has been exposed and they will be pushing up hill to restore their credentials as 'bastions' of democracy and human rights.

  • 6. 105 1
    We too must overcome our fear
    • A mother
    • 27.02.11
    • 10:37

    We must overcome our fear for change in the face of this unknown new MidEast order, since we do not know which way it is going. In Israel contrary to our neighbours we do not need arsony,clubs and knives but public discussion and election,in that sense there is nothing to topple here because this government was appointend after elections,if you like it or not. Our problem is a charismatic person or group with a vision, where are they? I hope the new party we read about will unify ALL forces left of the right wing opportunist horror which is basicly destroying us. For that we need someone to stand up and take the lead.

  • 5. 134 2
    First dispence the Ministry of Religious affairs.
    • labhras
    • 27.02.11
    • 10:34

    No room for such a deptartment in a democracy.

  • 4. 169 2
    Lior's refusal to be interrogated...
    • had enough
    • 27.02.11
    • 09:54

    er what?...you have to be joking! jail this monster and show the world we are secular and democratic and obey our own laws.

  • 3. 75 4
    I agree with the author that...
    • Wilbur
    • 27.02.11
    • 04:11

    all folks should support a "democratic Israel"--but that raises the "uncomfortable" question: Does that not logically lead to the position--that support should be withdrawn--from a "non-democratic" Israel? (Or should I not have raised the question--and, if so--why not?)

  • 2. 70 4
    Yes, I agree that all should support a...
    • Wilbur
    • 27.02.11
    • 03:09

    "democratic Israel"--which leaves the pesky question of: "Should an 'UNdemocratic Israel' ALSO be supported?"--AND--if so--then why the heck WHY?

  • 1. 202 2
    The Golem is overpowering its Master
    • Logios
    • 27.02.11
    • 01:36

    David Ben-Gurion famously said that he would never allow a separation between Church and State in Israel, because he wants the state to "hold religion in her hand" and control her. Ben-Gurion was not formally religious (according to present-days standards), and knew well how much damage ancient beliefs can inflict on the modern state of Israel, and therefore was determined to control them. But we now see that under the Right's rule, the state is losing control. It should be self-evident that a state employee should not be allowed to call for violation of state laws. Rabbis who receive salary from the state should be forbidden from calling for racist acts like not renting to Arab citizens, and certainly not murder. Such rabbis should have been fired from their positions forthwith, and state-law-abiding rabbis should have been hired in their stead. Lenient rabbis are amply available. Let us note that there is no Pope in Judaism and rabbis offer multiple opinions. It is the privilege of the people to hire rabbis they consider suitable. This is done in every Jewish community outside Israel as a routine matter. Somehow, the concept of control of religion was lost in the Right. Time for Reformation.

    • 3 8
      Logios, I agree with what you...
      • Wilbur
      • 27.02.11
      • 10:23

      conclude--but would add this: With the religious parties now such an integral part of the government--the "government" is NOT "losing" control--but "gaining" it.

    • 95 2
      Beb Gurion made a vast mistake at the time
      • Esther R
      • 27.02.11
      • 12:27

      ... there were 400 rabbis all-in-all in Israel... he did not realize that they would multiply expotentially from year to year, so that eventually secular Israel would be choked beyond recognition... ineffective to make any law or adjustment without consulting first with the rabbis that a swamping us...