Orthodox Jewish Murderers

Now before anyone jumps all over me for assuming these 5 boys are guilty of causing the death of a Palestinian woman before it is proven in court - let me unequivocally state that they should be legally presumed to be innocent until that time. But I hasten to add that it is not all that unlikely that they are in fact guilty

Although I said I am shocked, unfortunately I am not as shocked as I otherwise might be. These young Jews have very likely been indoctrinated to see all Palestinians as terrorists unless proven otherwise. So that killing a Palestinian might be seen as not only a justifiable elimination of a potential terrorist, it is even worthy of celebration!  These young people are  seen as heroes who have saved many Jewish lives!

It should not be surprising that Rabbi Meir Kahane’s extremist grandson, Meir Ettinger, is in the mix here. He was part of a delegation that was Mechalel Shabbos by driving to the prison where these boys are being detained in order to advise them. (Which I am sure they will ‘justify’ with a Pikuach Nefesh exception – based on the tactics they believe are being used by the Shin Bet to extract a confession.)

I tend to strongly believe those teenage Yeshiva students are guilty of what hey have been arrested for. It is from their ranks that Dr. Baruch Goldstein emerged. For those who for some reason missed this story, Dr. Goldstein mass murdered a group of Arabs while they were in prayer at Ma’aras HaMachpela. However, instead of seeing him for the deranged mass murderer he was, they see him as a righteous martyr for the Jewish people who saved many Jews by killing people that were about to commit their own mass murder against the Jews in his community.

When mass murderers like Goldstein are explained away and thereby venerated as heroes - it is not much of a leap to see them defending these teens the same way.

Which is one reason why I am so opposed to settlements deep in the West Bank. Even if you buy into their motive that settling all of Eretz Yisroel is an imperative worth dying for  (which I do not!) - the reality is that there are too many of those settlers that think along the same lines as Baruch Goldstein and his defenders. Which is very likely how their so-called Yeshivos indoctrinate their young to think.

If not proven otherwise in individual cases, these young people are groomed to treat all Arabs living in the West Bank as legitimate targets of terror who all want to kill us. And will do so given the opportunity. 

My sincere hope is that if these boys are found guilty in a court, that they be given the maximum sentence allowed by Israeli law. Murderers do not deserve to free no matter how misguided they are due to indoctrination by their teachers (and most like their own parents as well).  

It is outrageous that there is anyone that could defend what they did. Especially when their defenders are religious Jews. In my view their entire existence is a Chilul HaShem – a terrible stain upon all those of us that consider ourselves religious Jews.

But the real culprits here is the ‘Hashkafa’ that has created this ‘monster’. And the people that indoctrinate their young to believe they are serving God by murdering Arabs under the assumption that they are guilty until proven innocent! In my view they deserve prison as much as youthful monsters they created. If not more so!

They are an embarrassment to God and country. And to anyone that calls themselves a religious Jew. 

Unfortunately their ugly ‘Hashkafos’ are not illegal. So not only will they not be jailed, they will not even be arrested. Thus allowing them to continue preaching their hateful Hashkafos to new generations of Jews who will pass it on to further generations!

This kind of  indoctrination is unacceptable. And yet I have no clue how to prevent it from spreading. But there are some things that could be done to help prevent this kind of thing from happening again.

First as noted, a conviction with a harsh sentence - might - help deter any such attempts in the future. (...and I emphasize - might. These people eat determination for breakfast.) 

What the government should do is destroy every such settlement deep into the West Bank.  Let them bulldoze them all down! The price of allowing them to continue is too steep. There is nothing gained by allowing them other than appeasing the settlers themselves. 

I know settling all of Eretz Yisroel is a Mitzvah. But it is overridden by Pikuach Nefesh. Loss of life takes precedence almost over every other Mitzvah in the Torah – the exceptions of which do not apply here. And their actions clearly contribute to the hatred Arabs have toward us. Which endangers every Israeli citizen.

As bad as a Palestinian terrorists might be, Jewish terrorists are even worse. Because that is not who we are. That they exist at all in any kind of organized way is a desecration of God’s name. Desecrating God’s name is considered so serious that we are supposed to give up our lives in order to prevent it. The least we should do in that goal is to give up those settlements.