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Hachrazah 5767 Tevet 28


Informal translation from Hebrew of the 28 Tevet, 5767, (18 January 2007) statement:

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Special Court for Matters Concerning the Nation and the State
Secretary: Rabbi Amnon Hever Tel: 054-9400909 b.d.hartzion@gmail.com

Second Summons of the court to OC Central Command Major-General Yair Naveh

The court has sent a second private letter to OC Central Command Major-General Yair Naveh explaining in more details the seriousness of his actions. This was a private summons to an individual. It was not a public "call to action" nor was it a rabbinic ruling "psak halacha".

The court has no intention of turning this dispute of law into a public matter. The court will not publish the content of the indictment, or discuss the matter, as required for a case under judiciary action.

The original summons can be seen here

As a service to the community, "Friends of the Sanhedrin" this website, notes that The Jerusalem Post, and a few days later Haaretz, and YNet have run an articles which are pure examples of media distortion, attempting to portray the private letter as a public "call to action" or a rabbinic ruling "psak halacha". We recommend more balance articles that appear in NFC or Arutz-7. An informal English translation of the NFC appears below:

The Sanhedrin sues for explanations from the religious commander
By Idan Yosef www.Nfc.co.il
The rabbis of the Sanhedrin sent a letter to OC Central Command Major-General Yair Naveh that his use of "preventative restraining orders" against settlers was breaking Jewish laws, some of which are serious enough to entail capital punishment. They recommend to the commander to appear in court to search together to find ways to correct his actions instead of turning to the media and the police.
The special court for matters of nation and state claimed in a letter that was sent to the office of Major-General Yair Naveh, that the legal representatives of tens of families in the west bank objected to his actions as OC Central Command. The families claimed that he has extended "preventative restraining orders" against a portion of the heads-of-families, and that it was done without due process of law.
Naveh received the summons from the the rabbinical court, but refused to appear in court and explain his actions. In the present letter to Naveh it was written that "expulsion [of heads-of-families] is a serious offense!". According to the rabbis that signed the letter, those expelled from their homes were fulfilling the commandment of "settling in the land" and "inheriting the land", and that the very nature of expelling them is breaking Jewish law.
The rabbinical court added that taking measures specifically against the outposts amounted to preparing the area in advance of uprooting these settlements, so that these lands can be handed over to [Israel's] enemies. This was the continuation of the destruction of settlements that had already taken place under Naveh, in the settlements of Chomesh and Sanur in the northern west-bank. This, according to the justices, was the foundation for the breaking of two additional laws: The fact that Naveh abandoned the security of those families who were left with out heads-of-families and also robbed them of their household providers, may constitute additional criminal action.
"The legal fiction that defines people who are self sacrificing in settling the Land of Israel and for her defense, as criminals and dangerous to the public, could be correct for British or Jordanian law. It is correct according to the perversion of justice which you, in your own handwriting, bring to pass. We wish to bring to your attention, that you are performing criminal actions according to Jewish law!" was written in a letter to the office of Naveh.
The rabbis did not forget to recognize Naveh's actions concerning the defense of the settlements in Gush Katif, as well as his most recent actions concerning the security needs of the settlers. But they said sharply, "There is nothing in this to justify the cry of one child who's father has been driven from his home, or the tears of the wife who's husband has been banished. With one hand you build, with the other you destroy what you have built, and with it Torah, its people and its land. Doing some good cannot justify criminal behavior."
The rabbis of the Sanhedrin added that Naveh is entering into an area that Jewish law warns has a spiritual component as well, 'loosing one's portion in the world to come' and being 'cut off from the world by the hand of heaven'. They detailed three offences that the OC Central Command allegedly committed: Leading the public astray, intimidation of the public that is not religious, and also the prohibition of betraying citizens to the authorities, which theoretically carries a sentence of capital punishment, although not in our days. "In your letters you betray citizens into the hands of the agents who violently and cruely perform the action of the expullsion, bringing with it significant financial loss, not to mention physical and psychological damage. Maimonides defines such authorities as non-Jews in terms of Jewish law. In this sense, the 'security forces' become agents of malevolent acts as deplorable as the Israel's enemies." was written in the letter to Naveh.
In the rest of the letter, the rabbis detail the various crimes as they would have been defined by Maimonides. At the end they write: "The Honorable Mr. Yair Naveh! It might be that until this point you have not fully apprehended the severity of the actions that you have committed. As religious Jews, we see the necessity of warning you of the gravity of your actions. We appeal to you to correct these actions immediately. Cease and desist! Say to your commanders! 'I am a Jew, and I fear the G-d of heaven!' We summon you this second time to the court, to search together to find ways to correct what has been done. Up to this point you have not responded to our summons. Instead you have brought our summons to the attention of reporters and the police. This is in full knowledge that the police are appling force against the interests of the rabbis of Israel. In this you are a second time committing the crime of 'betrayal to the authorities', and when this is done [not against criminals but] against those who are trying to keep Jewish law, the gravity of the offense is many times more severe. You can indulge yourself to such a response this time as well, but know that such a serious action has no expiation. By the same token you have other options from the standpoint of Jewish law. We are expectation your appearance in court on Tuesday, 4th of Shevat, 5767, (23rd January, 2007) or at another date which may be arranged with Safra Davi-Dayni the court secretary".
On the letter which was sent to the Major-General were the signatures of justices Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, Rabbi Reuven Hass, Rabbi Yehudah 'Edri, Rabbi Ido Elbo, and Rabbi Prof. Hillel Weiss.

Click here to see the Hebrew version

References


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