Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said on Sunday at the funeral of Uri Danino, a hostage who was murdered in captivity and whose body was recovered from Gaza:
We must do everything to release the remaining hostages. Including the release of hundreds and thousands of terrorists with blood on their hands. According to Jewish Halacha, they must be set free to bring back everyone who remains. We didn’t merit that he be returned to us alive. How much we acted, and how much we did, and how much we spoke, free them so he would be returned alive. But we didn’t merit. It’s all from above, from the Holy One blessed be He. But we must make every effort to return all the hostages home in peace. And later we’ll do what must be done.
It should be noted that Rabbi Yosef only spoke of the need to release the hostages vs. the requirement of releasing terrorists with blood on their hands from Israeli prisons. He said nothing about complying with the rest of Hamas’s demands, such as a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and Hamas’s return to ruling the Strip – and all that in exchange for only some of the living hostages. Presumably, he included all of that in his statement that “everything” must be done.
Before we pass judgment on the call of the good rabbi whose term in office expired earlier this summer, we should note that he was heartbroken over the death of the young man, and perhaps did not consider all the ramifications of his statement, including the fact that the Israeli left has been using it to promote their position and urging Israel’s surrender to Hamas’s demands.
Senior Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Wolpe, the chairman of the Headquarters for the Salvation of the Nation and the Land, issued a counter-statement, saying, “Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef’s words should not be taken literally, the deal is prohibited according to Halacha.”
We were asked to rule regarding the so-called “deal” that they are about to reach with the terrorist mastermind Sinwar, who is in hiding in the tunnels in the city of Gaza. And the main thing is that in order for these terrorists to agree to release the Jews they kidnapped at the beginning of the war, this deal has several conditions, and one of them is that the government clear the so-called ‘Philadelphi Axis,’ over which conquest a lot of young soldiers’ blood was spilled. And if, God forbid, they clear it, then once again thousands of terrorists with weapons will be able to pass there without any hindrance. Also, one of the conditions is that Israel releases thousands of terrorists. And that’s the inquiry, is there a permit for this deal?
There is no wise man like one with experience, and experience has shown without any doubt that every time terrorists were released, all those who were released began murdering Jews again, and so we ask, is the blood of the Jew who is freed in the deal redder than the blood of those who will be killed in the future as a result of this release?!
And, of course, the whole argument that everything should be done for “captives’ redemption,” and even to release murderers “with blood on their hands,” does not belong here, since with this claim, the debate is diverted in the wrong direction. And is there any doubt that the mitzvah of redeeming captives is high and very noble? But the question is, is it permissible to release a hostage, and as a result cause the introduction of thousands of murderous terrorists through the tunnels on the aforementioned axis? And who takes responsibility for this?
And we heard that one of the greatest genius rabbis ruled this week in public that this deal must be reached, and this is astonishing. Also, one of the government ministers who heed the Torah sages (he means Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri – DI), also promised to support this deal despite the evacuation of the “Philadelphi axis.” Perhaps whoever conveyed these matters to us was wrong, and his words should not be taken literally.
In any case, in practice, it is clear that any cabinet minister who lends a hand to a deal to release the hostages is the one who will have to account for the murders that this deal would cause.
And lest there be any doubt about the identity of the folks who fail to see the ramifications of the mass release of Hamas and PLO prisoners, Rabbi Wolpe attached a copy of a telegram he sent in December 2009 to the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, founder and spiritual guide of Shas, begging him to order his cabinet ministers to object to the Gilad Shalit deal.
