Rabbi Wolpo Regrets Inciting Remarks
SOS Israel chairman says his call to fire rubber bullets at IDF soldiers was result of ‘a storm of emotions’, accuses PM and defense minister of ‘sending troops to shoot at Jews’.
Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo, chairman of the SOS Israel and Our Land of Israel movements, is taking back his call to fire rubber bullets at Israel Defense Forces soldiers and beat them up in response to similar actions on their part during the evacuation of Jewish communities in the West Bank.
Following the row sparked by his remarks, Wolpo said Tuesday evening, “God forbid should anyone fire at IDF soldiers, who engage in holy work serving the people of Israel and the Land of Israel… The comments were made as a result of a storm of emotions.”
Rabbi Wolpo issued a statement saying that the media reports on the matter were “biased.”
“The things I said in an interview to the ‘Moreshet’ radio station were after I took part in a protest for an IDF soldier whose house was destroyed,” he said, adding that his only intention was to express fear and wan against a civil war which could develop in light of the “criminal activity” of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
He took advantage of the opportunity to blast Netanyahu and Barak, claiming that “because of personal considerations of ratings and popularity among the Left, and ad an act of surrender to (US President Barack) Obama’s pressures, they ordered masked policemen to fire rubber bullets at Jews, whose only sin is the love of Israel.”
‘Rabbi should immigrate to Iran’
Wolpo’s remarks were harshly slammed earlier. The Banish the Darkness organization, which unites 18 movements “opposing racist moves, publications and opinions, which stain and poison the Israeli society and Judaism,” suggested that the rabbi “immigrate to Iran or Syria, where he’ll find partners to his hatred for the State of Israel.”
The organization called on the attorney general to launch a criminal investigation against the rabbi for inciting to violence against the security forces.
“The Our Land of Israel movement is an ideological incubator for the ‘price tag’ executors, writers of books like ”The King’s Torah“ and different kinds of rioters,” the organization said in a statement. “One can only regret that inciters of hatred of Rabbi Wolpo’s type see themselves as partners in Judaism.”
Rabbi Gilad Kariv of the Religious Action Center said that “as opposed to the Rabin murder, when the inciting rabbis’ names remained anonymous, this time the names of Rabbi Wolpo and his inciting friends are well known.
”There is a clear address on the wall, and the law enforcement authorities should treat the rabbi the same way they would treat a Muslim cleric calling for violence against IDF soldiers.“
Rabbi Mauricio Balter of the Masorti Movement said that ”Rabbi Wolpo preaches the establishment of a society based on anarchy, violence and hatred, instead of education based on values of justice and law.
“The civil war the rabbi is leading us to contradicts Jewish Law. The soldier, who arrived to evacuate citizens violating the law, are sent there by the State, not by their own initiative, and they should not be punished for that.”
Yanky
Where are all the chachomim from the last article that said Wolpo was right for inciting civil war between settlers and the “criminal” IDF? Have they become pacifists, or do they believe their hero Wolpo is bowing to pressure under threat of prosecution by the Attorney General? If he is just bowing to pressure, is he still a hero who stands steadfast for his people or another lackey to the establishment?
Whatever the case, this type of talk about civil war and the people who blindly support the Wolpo’s positions are despicable.
Yehudah Menasheh Goldstein
There has to be a limit where the People of Israel will not tolerate being bullied by neighboring countries who use our politicians as puppets to eliminate the Jewish people from the face of the earth. We should stand strong for the existence of our people, our land. There has to be some sense of social responsibility to keeping Torah values and defending dwelling in our G-d – given land. The Rebbe was adamant that we should not give an inch. How else do you translate that than to resist the governmental operatives which go against the Rebbe’s words? There has to be courage to stand up and be counted. Mesiras Nefesh is a necessary ingredient to survival, but because push has come to shove. I do not support violence against Jews, but resistance to wrong, and that is taking Jews out of Jewish land. All Israel is Jewish land. I support educating the world that they need Jews, and they need Jews to have their land back.
to Yanky
He bowed to the pressure but you can’t blame him. Some extreme views are emes laamitoso. So to stand behind an extreme view, even though it’s emes takes lots of guts withstanding interrogation and imprisonment by Israel’s KGB like police. Not to mention that he’s obviously more cautious not to use inflammatory rhetoric, being a Lubavitcher not wanting to be merachek yidden. So he needs to strike a balance of speaking truth, and maintaining good relationships with the not yet frum crowd. Unfortunately he’s a farbrenter mishichist which turns my stomach yet on shleimus haaretz he’s excellent.
Yanky
To #3, your cognitive dissonance and naivete is astounding. Yesterday you respected Wolpo as the only one with the guts to stand up for “emes laamitoso,” but today you “can’t blame him” for giving in to pressure. Your unquestioning faith in Wolpo would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous. The same goes with all of his other supporters.
Can’t you see through his thinly veiled hypocrisy? First he insists that everyone has to resist the Israeli government at all costs, including mesirus nefesh, and now he’s submitting to the government to save his own tuches from the reprecussions of his actions. He wants ignorant people like you to do his bidding and the dangerously deluded settlers to fight his civil wars, while he remains safe on his pedestal. Where is his mesirus nefesh for his people and for the land of Israel? Wolpo is a farce and a terrorist.
Ignorance. Pure Ignorance.
P.S. As someone who publicly condones terrorism all the time under the guise of Torah, Wolpo has no credibility with most intelligent yidden.
AYE
Wolpo is a loose cannon and has been so for many years. It is proof that there are no true Rabbonim in our current generation when individuals like this are allowed to spew their verbal diarrhea unchecked.
Y M G
The Merit with Rabbi Wolpo is that he agrees with the Rebbe who demands and cries the we should demand and cry that there should be no yielding of land for it puts us in danger. And that the government of Israel is SUPPOSED to be like an insurance company, meaning that they are supposed to protect us and increase security in the Land of Israel, not decrease it and not yield to pressures, concessions, give-aways. Wolpo is right about that. So he slipped. I admit I have made mistakes, we all do. We don’t amplify our shtuyot. We enhance and improve on our mitzvot. Wolpo’s motives are to save lives, including the lives of Yidden in all lands, for if )G-d forbid) there could be strength to enemies within the land, then this has automatic repercussions outside on all Yidden. He is right. He just made a mistake in this point. May G-d preserve him and strengthen him and keep him safe and successful to help save Jewish lives, land and unity. Why criticize him like you do, you don’t have as big of ___ as he???
Milhouse
#4, Would YOU have stood up to the threats? Would YOU have gone to prison rather than issue this weasely statement? Note that even in this statement he does NOT contradict what he said earlier; he does NOT say that when you see a Jew being shot at or beaten you should stand by and let it happen. Everything he says in this statement is completely irrelevant to what he said last week. But if this keeps him out of prison or worse, and his family off the street, it’s worth it. What he said last time is still true, and everyone knows it’s true whether he “backed down” or not. Its truth didn’t depend on who said it; it would be true even if NOBODY said it. An army that shoots at Jews is an antisemitic army