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Rabbi Yaakov Yosef after his release
Photo: Gil Yohanan

Rabbi Yosef: Police brutality inexcusable

Rabbi who was questioned over support for controversial book likens Israel to 'Bolshevik state' where 'police can do whatever they want'

Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, who was arrested Sunday morning and released shortly after, slammed the law enforcement system in Israel, saying that "only in a state without democracy can the police do whatever they want.

 

"They behaved in an ugly manner," Yosef said of the police in an interview with the religious radio station Radio Kol Hai. "Such brutal behavior cannot be forgiven."

 

 

Yosef, who was brought in for questioning over his endorsement of the "The King's Torah," a book that deals with the Jewish law's stance on killing non-Jews during wartime, said that the police asked him two or three questions about each page of the book, but noted that he did not go into an in-depth discussion with them.

 

"We say on Passover, 'Pour out thy wrath upon the nations.' So what? We won't be allowed to say it? We won't be allowed to study the Torah?" Yosef said. "We didn't go into the smallest details of the matter, because it a matter of Jewish law.'The King's Torah' is a matter of Jewish law only. Under this preamble, there's nothing to talk about."

 

When the police asked him whether it was worth it to endorse the book, Yosef said: "If we define our reality by saying we live in a Bolshevik state, without a Knesset, without democracy… if this is the state then of course it isn't worth it. Why to confront them? 'Each man by his own camp.'"

 

Yosef has been surrounded in recent days by his supporters, who wished to prevent the police from arresting him. For this reason the police stationed several units around the rabbi's Jerusalem home, staking out an opportunity when Yosef was alone. He was stopped by plainclothes officers on Sunday morning, and released after a half hour-long questioning.

 

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פרסום ראשון: 07.03.11, 22:01
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