Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu
Photo: Avihu Shapira
Olmert. Money under the table
Photo: Amit Shabi
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu
Photo: Zoom 77
Safed rabbi calls for return to Gush Katif
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu publishes opinion on Gaza disengagement, its instigators, how to turn back time; 'we must save Israel from Sharon's corrupt followers,' he says
Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of the northern city of Safed, called for the re-settlement of Gush Katif, a bloc of Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza Strip evacuated as part of the disengagement plan.
"We must save the State of Israel from the corrupt, (former Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon's followers… We must return to Gush Katif; we need 100 brave men to come with equipment and sleeping bags… It is ours; we were expelled under false pretenses, and we must restore the truth," the rabbi said in an article published over the weekend.
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Katif settlement during disengagement. (Photo: Yael Golan)
The article, titled "Return to Katif," was published in "Salvation Springs," a pamphlet distributed over the weekend in synagogues throughout Israel.
Rabbi Eliyahu, son of Former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, is very popular in the community, especially amongst the youth.
In the article, the rabbi wrote: "If you were told tomorrow that behind (Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert's decision to back the 'disengagement' stood money – lots of money which he received under the table – would you fall off your seats? Probably not. And if you were told that this money was European, coming from anti-Semitic or Arab organizations, it would not be surprising."
Eliyahu continued to criticize "Sharon's followers," calling them corrupt and blinded by greed.
"We must take initiative, we must return to Gush Katif. What could happen? We'll be kicked out? We will return again and another seven times… The media may present us as delusional, but eventually they will understand that we have no other way. Eventually the truth will lead the way," he added.
Rabbi Eliyahu ended his letter calling for recruits for the re-settlement, saying they would come armed with weapons and "restore the truth," adding that this idea should be expanded throughout Israel.
