Rabbi calls for ‘horrible revenge’ against Arabs

An influential rabbi in Israel is to be reported to the country’s legal authorities for inciting racial hatred by calling publicly for "a horrible revenge" against Palestinians. He has demanded retaliation for the murders of eight Jewish seminary students by a lone Palestinian gunman earlier this month.

Shmuel Eliyahu (right) says the children of the terrorist who carried out the attack should "hang from a high tree" and he is urging the Israeli authorities to inflict such harsh punishment on the Arabs "that they will fall flat on their faces and scream 'Enough'."

Writing in a newsletter that will be distributed to synagogues across Israel this weekend, Eliyahu also denounces 'bleeding heart' Israelis who refuse to accept that Palestinians "understand very well the language of revenge."

Two weeks have passed since the seminary killings, he complains, yet there has been no retribution by the government. "Something is amiss among the decision takers at the top [who] have forgotten the meaning of 'deterrent force'."

In a swift response to Eliyahu's diatribe, the Musawa Centre for Arab Rights, which campaigns on behalf of Israeli Arabs, said it would be urging Israel's Attorney General to punish him "to the fullest severity of the law".

Its spokesman pointed out that "this is not the first time the rabbi for Safed [a holy city for Jews] incites against the Arabs". The spokesman claimed that the authorities have been reluctant to enforce the law against Jewish extremists like Eliyahu who advocate violence.

Three years ago, the rabbi was investigated for criminal