Zionist rabbis call for nonviolent resistance to Amona demolition
At least two of the rabbis who signed the petition are the heads of Hesder Yeshivas, where young religious men combine army service with Torah study for a period of five years.
By JEREMY SHARONAmona protest(photo credit: Courtesy)
Religious-Zionist rabbis from across the political spectrum called Monday night for civilians to flock to the Amona settlement outpost and non-violently oppose its slated destruction.Their declaration echoes calls made by hardline religious-Zionist rabbis to religious soldiers to refuse orders to evacuate the Gush Katif settlements in Gaza in 2005.In 2014 the High Court of Justice ruled that the settlement was built on private Palestinian land and ordered the government to evacuate and destroy the outpost by December 25.Hardline religious-Zionist rabbis, together with more liberally inclined rabbis from the community, called for prayers to be said in synagogues to save the outpost, and also called on the public to go to stay in Amona to oppose the destruction.Among those signing the petition were hard-line rabbis such as Dov Lior, Shmuel Eliyahu, Elyakim Levanon and Shlomo Aviner, together with more moderate rabbis, including Haim Druckman and Yaakov Ariel.Rabbis from the more liberal wing of the religious-Zionist movement, including Nahum Rabinowitz and David Stav, also signed the declaration.At least two of the rabbis who signed the petition are the heads of Hesder Yeshivas, where young religious men combine army service with Torah study for a period of five years.“We call on anyone who can come and stay in the settlement at this time,” the rabbis said.“Staying in this place will give strength to the beloved residents, and will say clearly to all decision makers that we are now with the residents of Amona at this time of their distress for everything, and we will continue with them until an arrangement will be legislated and Amona will be redeemed,” they said. “We call on the wider community to continue to stay in the settlement and to protest vigorously against the destruction of the settlement through passive resistance, without violence.”The petitioning rabbis also called on the government to “prevent this criminal and unnecessary destruction.”