Israeli rabbi says ‘kill everyone in Gaza, including babies’

Rabbi Eliyahu Mali and his Yeshiva are sponsored by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government

News Desk

MAR 8, 2024

https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-rabbi-says-kill-everyone-in-gaza-including-babies

Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, head of the Shirat Moshe yeshiva (religious school) in the occupied city of Jaffa, called on the Israeli army to kill everyone in Gaza, including babies. 

During a conference on 8 March, Mali said that “according to the halachic principle (a religious-ethical system of legal reasoning in Judaism), all residents of Gaza must be killed.” 

When asked during the conference if babies should be killed as well, he said: “The same thing. You can't be clever with the Torah. Today he's a baby, tomorrow he's a fighter. There are no questions here. Today's terrorists were previously 8-year-old children.”

“Those who create the terrorists” should also be killed, he said in reference to women in Gaza.

The Rabbi went on to explain that Israel’s war on Gaza is a “Mitzvah war,” which is defined as a war of “commandment” in Jewish tradition. According to Jewish law, this kind of war does not require permission from a “Sanhedrin,” also known as a council or assembly, such as the war against Amalek – previously declared in a biblical reference by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of the war on Gaza.

“There is a difference between a civilian population in other places and a civilian population in Gaza. In Gaza, according to estimates, 95 to 98 percent want us destroyed.” 

"Since this is a sensitive issue, and I was told that it is being uploaded on the Internet, I want to be ahead of the curve and say that the bottom line is that you have to do exactly what is said in the IDF's order,” Mali added. 

The rabbi’s students in the Shirat Moshe yeshiva serve in the Israeli army. The Yeshiva is sponsored by the Israeli government. 

Some in Israel have distanced themselves from his rhetoric, such as Israeli Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli. 

"Using Halacha does not give any rabbi permission to present Judaism or Israel as bloodthirsty and revengeful. This directly harms the security of the State of Israel and like other distorted statements in the name of Halacha, it will be used by our enemies … I demand that the IDF and the Ministry of Defense stop cooperating with the Yeshiva until the rabbi is fired. The IDF must not allow such dangerous moral corruption in its ranks," she said.

Mali has long been a controversial figure due to his beliefs. In 2021, shortly before the outbreak of the Sword of Jerusalem battle between Israel and the Gaza resistance, he was beaten up by Palestinian citizens of Israel on the streets of occupied Jaffa.