ISRAEL:
RABBI OVADIAH YOSEF
& THE TERRITORIES:
______
----- Original Message -----
From: rabbi_koshertorah.com
To: a
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003 10:40 AM
Subject: Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef Retracts Ruling


B"H KosherTorah.com 27 Jan. 2003

This message is VERY IMPORTANT!! Please pass it on to all your email lists, especially to members of the Haredi communities. We must always do whatever we can to support our brothers and sisters who fulfill the great mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Yisrael.

Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.org/news.php3?id=37910

RABBI OVADIAH YOSEF RETRACTS RULING; YESHA COUNCIL RESPONDS

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, formerly Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi - the Rishon LeTzion - and the long-time spiritual authority of the Shas Party, has canceled his 30-year-old Halakhic [Jewish legal] ruling that Israel may give over territories in order to save lives.

In a letter addressed to the Jews of Yesha (Judea, Samaria, and Gaza), Rabbi Yosef wrote that it has since been proven that giving away territory has actually led to the loss of life, and it is therefore forbidden to give land to the Arabs.

He wrote that the Oslo Accords are null and void.

A translation of the entire letter follows:

"I would like to clarify my position regarding Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The Halakhic ruling that I issued, "territories for peace," is not valid at all in light of the current situation. My intention was exclusively to true peace, in which Jerusalem and its environs would sit in security, tranquilly and serenely. Now, however, our eyes see and chalot that the opposite is true: giving away territory from our holy land causes endangerment to lives. Not to this peace have we longed, and not for this boy did we pray. Therefore, the Oslo Agreement is null and void." Yesha Council leaders say that even though the timing of the new ruling is certainly related to the elections, in that Shas is seeking the support of Yesha residents, "we attribute great importance to the ruling, and see it as a positive and historic turn in hareidi Jewry's attitude towards the settlement enterprise in Yesha."
- posted by Izak @ 12:07 AM