Rabbi Yaakov Ariel
Photo: Ilan Marciano
Rabbi: Those who hurt Prof. Sternhell lack Jewish morals
Tzohar rabbis issue statement of condemnation following attack on Israel Prize laureate, calling it 'a severe attack on the Torah, Jewish law and Israeli democracy'
Rabbinical condemnation. The Tzohar rabbis' organization released a statement Friday, expressing its "deep shock" over the attack
against Israel Prize Laureate Prof. Ze'ev Sternhell, who was lightly injured by a pipe bomb detonated at his front door in Jerusalem.
Tzohar President Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, one of Religious Zionism's most prominent leaders, added that "those assailants do not represent even a smidgen of the Judea and Samaria settlers and the Greater Israel people, and they lack basic Jewish morals."
"We view this violent act as a severe attack on the Torah, Jewish law, Israeli democracy and the sensitive fabric of life in the Jewish society," the statement said.
PM Olmert:
Prime minister opens cabinet meeting with stark condemnation of pipe bomb detonated on leftist scholar's front door, says radicalism, malice pose threat to Israel
Tzohar Chairman Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein spoke to Prof. Sternhell's wife, Ziva, and wished her husband a speedy recovery.
The rabbis' organization added that every rabbi, educator and Jewish leader has the moral duty to denounce physical or verbal violence of any kind, and explain the dangers of unfounded hatred to the Jews' existence in the Land of Israel.
Tzohar was founded following the 1995 murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in a bid to mend the rift among the Jewish people.
