Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Tsfat and a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council, on Tuesday posted on Facebook, following the murderous attack in Be’er Sheva, that more than a month ago, he received a phone call from a Shin Bet officer who asked him to calm the spirits among the Jews because of the approaching month of Ramadan.
“I denied his request for a meeting,” Rabbi Eliyahu wrote. “I told him that Ramadan is a month when there are Arabs who are pulling out their knives, not Jews. If they turn to me, they have a very serious problem in reading the map, and I’m not willing to participate in their gaslighting.”
Rabbi Eliyahu is one of the staunchest critics of the Israeli government’s policy regarding Israeli Arabs––including the Netanyahu government. He has urged Jewish residents of Tsfat not to rent housing to Arabs, resulting in calls for his suspension, and for his prosecution for racial incitement. In July 2012, the Justice Ministry closed the investigation into allegations of incitement, on the grounds of lack of evidence that the statements could be attributed to Eliyahu.
“The murders in Be’er Sheva proved how wrong they are,” Rabbi Eliyahu’s post continued. “They don’t dare to demand from the Bedouin to return stolen weapons, they don’t demolish illegally built homes. They don’t shoot Bedouin who steal weapons from IDF bases. Then they’re surprised that an Israeli Arab kills four Jews in the name of the Quran.”
“They still don’t understand who is a friend and who an enemy. Today they questioned the settler who saved lives by shooting the killer. They took his weapon and if not for the public protest the weapon would not have been returned and maybe he would have been arrested as well,” Rabbi Eliyahu concluded.
He then posted this video, explaining that a failed court system is the root cause of Bedouin anarchy.
