A number of prominent rabbis in the religious Zionist sector wrote an open letter published late on Thursday, opposing a partial hostage release deal in Gaza and advocating for a continuation of the war.
The letter was signed by the rabbis of the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Araba, the West Bank Samaria Regional Council the chief rabbis of Safed, whose son is a minister for the far-right Religious Zionist Party and other prominent spiritual leaders.
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Rabbis Shmuel Eliyahu, Dov Lior, Elyakim Levanon, Yaakov Ariel
(Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch, Alex Kolomoisky, Ohad Greenzweig )
Mediators have been working toward a deal that would include a 60 day truch and release of 10 live hostages and the remains of 18 others and include negotiations for an end to the war.
In their letter the rabbis call for the hostages to be returned in a defeat of Hamas. "The purpose of the war in victory," they wrote. "The partial deal that is being formulated is dangerous and harmful first of all to the goal of victory in the war as well as to the the people of Israel and its unity."
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The rabbis said the deal was also a danger to the hostages who would not be included in the first phase of the deal and that a lull in the fighting against Hamas would allow then to rebuild their strength and fighting spirit and prompt them to attack soldiers and consider the deal a capitulation on the part of Israel.
"It is our duty to bring Hamas to surrender, destroy its communities and exile its leaders from our land."
The signed their letter with a call for spiritual leaders and public servants to act responsibly and to remind them that a partial deal is not only a tactical error but a read danger to the country, its military, unity and the hostages.
First published: 09:31, 07.18.25