The police said that Elitzur was questioned by investigators
from the international crimes unit. It added that Elitzur was scheduled to be
brought before the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court for a remand hearing later
on Thursday.
According to the police, the arrest comes as part of the
investigation into the book “Torat Hamelech” (“The King’s Torah”), co-written
by Elitzur and Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira of Yitzhar and was published in November.
The preface of the book states that it is forbidden to kill
non-Jews but the book then describes the context in which it is permitted to do
so.
According to the book, it is permissible to kill a non-Jew
who threatens Israel even if the person is classified as a “righteous gentile.”
The book says that any gentile who supports war against Israel can also be
killed.
“It is permissible to kill the Righteous among Nations even
if they are not responsible for the threatening situation,” Shapira wrote,
adding: “If we kill a Gentile who has sinned or has violated one of the seven
commandments — because we care about the commandments — there is nothing wrong
with the murder.”
The book has attracted a firestorm of controversy since
being published in 2009, and police have questioned Shapira over the texts last
month, while raiding the Od Yosef Chai seminary in Yitzhar in order to
confiscate copies of the text.
However, dozens of rabbis, educators, public figures and
right-wing activists attended on Wednesday a support rally for Rabbis Dov Lior
and Yaakov Yosef, who refused to report for police questioning over their
endorsement of the book.
In recent months Jewish occupiers have increased their acts
of harassment against Palestinians in the West Bank as a “price tag” for the
decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on last November that a
10-month partial moratorium on new housing starts in the West Bank settlements.
Netanyahu said the move was in a bid to revive the peace talks with the
Palestinians.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been resisting
pressure to engage in direct negotiations with Israel before it stops
settlement constructions in East Jerusalem completely. In May, the US
administration launched indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians, but
the discussions failed to bridge the gaps over the borders of the future Palestinian
state.
