Talk:Criticism of Judaism/conflict and violence

Religious precepts used to justify or motivate violent acts
Critics claim that Judaism's precepts justified and motivated many violent acts during the 1948 war. However, Judaism's religious texts overwhelmingly endorse compassion and peace, and the Hebew Bible contains the well-known commandment to "love thy neighbor as thyself".

Critics claim that extremists sometimes use Judaism's religious doctrines to justify violence, citing Baruch Goldstien, who relied on precepts from the Kach movement to perpetrate the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre. In addition, critics claim that Gush Emunim and followers of Rabbi Kook advocate violence based on Judaism's religious precepts. Critics also claim that a former Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (who was also the founder and leader of Israel’s third largest political party, Shas), called for “extermination of the Arabs,” saying “it is forbidden to be merciful to them”; and that on another occasion he compared Arabs to snakes, who should all be annihilated. However, the number of extremists that subscribe to these interpretations of Judaism is a miniscule proportion of the total Jewish population.

Not all violence was directed at non-Jews - critics claim that the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by Yigal Amir was motivated by Judaism's religious doctrines of din mosser (the duty to eliminate a Jew who intends to turn another Jew in to non-Jewish authorities)  and din rodef (the duty to kill a Jew who imperils the life or property of another Jew).

Critic Noam Chomsky claims that leaders of Judaism in Israel play a role in sanctioning military operations: "[Israel's Supreme Rabbinical Council] gave their endorsement to the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, declaring that it conformed to the Halachi (religious) law and that participation in the war 'in all its aspects' is a religious duty. The military Rabbinate meanwhile distributed a document to soldiers containing a map of Lebanon with the names of cities replaced by alleged Hebrew names taken from the Bible.... A military Rabbi in Lebanon explained the biblical sources that justify 'our being here and our opening the war; we do our Jewish religious duty by being here.'"

Critics claim that Judaism's religious leaders have interpreted religious laws to support killing of innocent civilians during wartime in some circumstances, and that this interpretation was asserted several times: in 1974 following the Yom Kippur war, in 2004 during conflicts in West Bank and Gaza, and in the 2006 Lebanon War. Critics cite a booklet published by an IDF military chaplain which stated "... insofar as the killing of civilians is performed against the background of war, one should not, according to religious law, trust a Gentile 'The best of the Gentiles you should kill'...".
 * Abraham Avidan (Zamel), After the War: Chapters of Meditation, Rule, and Research, as quoted by Steven Schwarzschild, "The Question of Jewish Ethics Today" (Dec, 24, 1976) in journal Sh'ma (vol. 7, no. 124) - http://www.clal.org/e14.html. Schwarzschild article reprinted in The pursuit of the ideal: Jewish writings of Steven Schwarzschild, chapter 7, pp 117-136, SUNY Press, 1990 (ISBN 0791402193).  Latter book quotes the booklet on page 125. Schwarzschild writes that Avidan was the "military rabbi" of the Central Command Headquarters.


 * Schwarzschild article includes a bracketed comment as follows: "... insofar as the killing of civilians is performed against the background of war, one should not, according to religious law, trust a Gentile [and justifies this claim, citing the utterance from the Codes:]  'The best of the Gentiles you should kill"...'".   Schwartzschild indicates that the phrase "[t]he best of the Gentiles you should kill" is from the Mekhilta 14:7 ("tov shebagoyim harog"), citing  Nathan Suesskind, "Tov Sheba-Goyim" C.C.A.R. Journal, Spring  1976, pp. 28f. and n. 2.


 * Schwarzschild article states that the booklet was discussed contemporaneously in the Mapam newspaper. Other sources cite contemporaneous discussions by Haolam Hazeh, 5 January 1974; by David Shaham, 'A chapter of meditation', Hotam, 28 March 1974; and by Amnon Rubinstein, 'Who falsifies the Halakhah?' Maariv, 13 October 1975.


 * . This book also cites the chaplain's booklet.


 * See also a discussion of "Religious Zionist military rabbinate" in George Wilkes (2003) "Judaism and Justice in War", in Just war in comparative perspective, Paul F. Robinson (Ed.), Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., p. 22.  The booklet was withdrawn by the military after criticism, but critics claim the military never repudiated the guidance.  However, the vast majority of religious leaders have condemned this interpretation; the advice was only applicable to combat operations in wartime; and the Israeli military subscribes to the Purity of arms doctrine, which strives to minimize injuries to non-combatants.