Rabbis to Ovadia Yosef: Shas must quit evil government
In letter to Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, prominent rabbis write that Annapolis conference will lead to 'uprooting of dozens of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria'
"The prime minister is deceiving the people of Israel and is gambling with the peace and security of millions of Jews," a group of prominent rabbis wrote in a letter to Shas' spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
"We turn to you, pleading with you to order the Shas movement to immediately quit the evil government," the rabbis wrote, in an attempt to mount pressure on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ahead of the upcoming Annapolis peace conference.
In the letter sent to Yosef under the title "A menacing danger at Annapolis with Shas' participation," the rabbis wrote that fateful decisions would be taken at Annapolis "to uproot dozens of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria; not even Jerusalem will be spared. There are those trying to play down the importance of the conference, but experience has taught us that whatever is declared at Annapolis will serve as the starting point of future discussions and the basis for future agreements."
This isn't the first time public figures have turned to Rabbi Yosef regarding the conference in the US. At the beginning of the week, Yosef met with opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who warned the rabbi of the dangers of Annapolis. "We give everything and get nothing in return," Netanyahu told the rabbi.
Among the signatories on the letter are the Rabbi Dov Lior, head of the Yesha Rabbis' Committee, Kiryat Motzkin Chief Rabbi Dov Druckerman, SOS-Israel President Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe and Rabbi Yisrael Ariel.
Kosher blasphemy
According to the rabbis' claims, "apart from the horrible dangers of the conference, the very participation of a holy party of Torah and worship in a government which talks about the removal of settlements — in Judea, Samaria, and part of Jerusalem — constitutes serious blasphemy and gives a 'kosher' seal of approval to a war on God and his torah."
In conclusion, wrote the Rabbis, the "only way to negate (Olmert's) evil council and beliefs is for Shas to quit the government." If Shas withdraws from the cabinet, "this action will go down in history as that which saved the nation and land from a dangerous man, evil in his doings, whose every despicable action has but one purpose – to save himself from criminal investigation."
In an interview with ynet, Rabbi Wolpe said that "the letter was sent against the backdrop of the Annapolis conference, but also that of this week's meeting between the prime minister and the representatives of the Yesha Council. It has been proven that every conference, signature, and declaration only represent the beginning. In Sharon's time we said 'that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all,' but in the end, it was."
According to Rabbi Druckerman, "it has been proven that all the disasters began in discussions. The situation at the moment is terrible, and, if we do not recover – who knows whether we are already too late – all is lost."
