(Former Sephardi Chief) Rabbi Eliyahu changes mind on refusal

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 23 September 2005 | YAAKOV KATZ AND MATTHEW WAGNER

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Sep. 23, 2005 0:52 | Updated Sep. 23, 2005 6:04
Rabbi Eliyahu changes mind on refusal
By YAAKOV KATZ AND MATTHEW WAGNER

In a surprise break from his fierce opposition to disengagement and his support of calls for the refusal of IDF evacuation orders, former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliahu, in an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post, urged members of the national religious camp on Thursday to remain loyal to the state and the army.

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

This view stands in stark contrast to that espoused by a group of settlement rabbis – such as Zalman Melamed of Beit El, Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba, Elyakim Levanon of Elon Moreh and David Dudkevitch of Yitzhar – who see as their leader former Ashkenazi chief rabbi Avraham Shapira.

In the name of Shapira, these rabbis are calling for a radical revamping of the relationship between religious and secular Zionists.

Eliahu's equanimity, in his first interview with the press since disengagement, was a striking departure from his own previous adamant opposition to the pullout, which he had called a "curse from heaven."

In one TV interview before disengagement, he even told soldiers to refuse evacuation orders, although on other occasions he was more ambiguous, recommending that soldiers "sit down and cry."

Eliahu has been criticized by religious Zionist rabbis for promising thousands of his followers, many of whom are former residents of the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria, that disengagement would never happen.

Asked what he had to say to those settlers who suffered material losses, because they believed his promises and did not pack up their belongings or cooperate with the government, Eliahu replied: "From the beginning I always said to the settlers that they need to act according to their level of confidence in God. Someone who is afraid, I said, should evacuate and leave and do what he thinks is right. Someone with more confidence in God should pack but not leave and someone with even more confidence should not even pack."

Eliahu said that those settlers who had confidence in God and did not pack would receive a heavenly reward.

He said that disengagement could happen because the Israeli people had grown distant from "Torah, religion and the mitzvot." Eliahu said he did not believe a second disengagement was on the horizon.

"People need to understand that Land of Israel is holy and not like other countries in the world," he said. "It is holy since God chose to give it to the Jewish people. How can you give it away?"

He said that disengagement was God's way of telling the Jewish people to "re-engage," to "reconnect."

"God wants us to be connected to one another. What is missing today from the Jewish nation and the Land of Israel is love and unity," he said.

Eliahu said a Jew needs to maintain the same attitude toward the state as before the pullout. He must continue to serve in the army via the hesder program, unless he devotes his full time to Torah study. He must continue to vote and to show respect for the Knesset and its elected officials.

"But everything must be done to topple the government," he said.

Eliahu called on all the religious and right-wing parties to join forces and create a right-wing religious bloc.

"We made a mistake and they now need to create a unified political bloc with everyone from Shas, Degel Hatorah and the National Religious Party" to prevent further land concessions, he said. "This way we can make a difference."

Regarding the continued settlement of the Land of Israel, Eliahu said people should not go settle vacant hilltops without the approval of the IDF.

"We need to settle the entire Land of Israel, but the security situation is difficult, and by moving to a certain place you require the army to be there to protect you," he explained. "Therefore everything needs to be done in coordination with the army." While people, he said, had over the years thought certain prime ministers would bring security and peace to the state, Eliahu said the Jewish people could not place their faith in anyone but God.

"People can do things to bring the redemption closer – we can pray, repent and give charity and rid ourselves of evil decrees," he said.

"We once thought that this prime minister or that prime minister would redeem us but we need to understand that only God can and redemption will only come from heaven."

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