Chabad leaders reject rabbi's ruling on killing pro-Arab coalition partners

Rabbi Gedalia Axelrod, a former head of the Haifa Rabbinical Court, wrote a letter this week arguing that Jewish party leaders who work with Arab political groups can be killed under a specific religious law. The handwritten document, which surfaced in media reports, applies the doctrine of din rodef to current Israeli politics.

Axelrod defined din rodef as the right to kill a pursuer to save a victim. He cited teachings from Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon that command believers to kill the pursuer and not stand idly by when a colleague is in danger. According to the letter, collaborating with Arab parties poses a terrible danger to the people of Israel both in the Holy Land and globally.

The rabbi specified that this danger exists whether Arab parties join a governing coalition or merely support it from outside. He suggested that such alliances endanger Jewish lives, a stance that has historical echoes in Israel. Yigal Amir, the assassin of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, relied on similar religious arguments to justify the shooting. Extremist rabbis had also used din rodef to argue that the Oslo Accords threatened national security.

A group of former heads of Israel's security services and military reacted sharply to the ruling. They sent a letter to Maj.-Gen. Boaz Balet, who leads the police Investigations and Intelligence Division, asking him to summon Axelrod for questioning. The officials accused the rabbi of inciting murder and warned that inaction could lead to another political assassination.

Ofer Cassif, a lawmaker for the Joint List, made a separate request to State Prosecutor Amit Isman to open a criminal investigation. Cassif noted that the country is in a sensitive period of leadership change following the election. He stated that authorities must operate with particular vigilance against anyone who threatens or legitimizes the killing of elected officials.

The Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement moved to distance itself from Axelrod on Thursday. Rabbi Shimi Segal, the movement's spokesman in Israel, told Haaretz that only the Chabad rabbinical court determines official religious rulings. Segal said Axelrod is not a member of that court and does not hold a leadership position, meaning his words reflect his personal opinion rather than the movement's stance.

The controversy arises as coalition building takes shape after the recent election. Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats, has expressed support for including Arab parties in a government. Gadi Eisenkot, who is tasked with forming the next government, said he would invite parties meeting certain conditions to his coalition. Both the United Arab List and the Joint List had recommended Eisenkot for this role.