'Sanhedrin': Kill prisoners if Shalit doesn't return

Rightist reestablished rabbinical body says agreement to free hundreds of terrorists for kidnapped soldier is treasonous. Their recommendation: Another war against Hamas, threat to kill prisoners if captive is not returned to Israel

December 10, 2009

"If Gilad Shalit, Heaven forbid, is executed or not returned in peace, prisoners will be executed immediately," ruled the court of the reestablished "Sandhedrin" organization, in a ruling published last week on the backdrop of the negotiations to release the captured Israeli soldier.

The rabbis even recommended that Israel capture senior Palestinian figures – "including ministers, prime ministers, and anyone associated with the enemy's leadership" – as part of the effort to bring Gilad home.

"In order to avoid collapse that would entail, Heaven forbid, another holocaust, the Shalit deal must be blocked even at the cost of his life, while, on the other hand, any effort must be taken to rescue him immediately through using the lives of murderous terrorists we have in our hands as hostages," explained the rabbis.

According to the "Sanhedrin," "These monstrous prisoner release deals, like the Tannenbaum deal and the Kuntar deal in which corpses were returned in exchange for the release of masses of murderers, are road signs on the way to surrender. The central figures promoting these moves are politicians, academics, members of the media, the Peace Now movement, and public relations representatives who receive massive funding from foreign enemy countries for despicable acts of treason."

Instead of continuing negotiations and moving towards carrying out the prisoner swap deal, the members of the "Sanhedrin" court recommended that the State wage another war in Gaza during this Hannuka in order "to exterminate Hamas from this world."

According to them, "In any case, the State of Israel will not be able to prevent a war unlike any other simultaneously with all its enemies - a result of the process called the 'peace' process that is nothing but a surrender process."


'Acts of treason'

The rabbinic council, associated with the Right, claimed that the two most significant decisions made recently by the government – the agreement to release hundreds of terrorists in exchange for one captured soldier and the 10-month settlement building moratorium – are acts of treason contrary to the very basis of the existence of a Jewish state in the land of Israel that undermine the physical existence of the Jewish people.

Because of this, the rabbis called upon the public "to make conclusions and ensure its fate" by recruiting building efforts through the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights without waiting for the decisions of the "surrender government" to be blocked.

"The 'Sanhedrin' intends to organize the Jewish people as a public entity in and of itself, separate from the feeble government. The 'Sanhedrin' ask volunteers to contact us in order to make this dream a reality," declared the rabbis.

"If the government were loyal to its people, it would be obligated to notify the population residing in the dense areas on the coastal plain to disperse throughout Judea and Samaria, Jerusalem and its vicinity, north of Ramallah and south of Bethlehem, in the Judean Desert, in the vicinity of the mount, along the Jordan Valley in order to prepare for the worst, Heaven forbid – an all-out attack, including an Iranian nuclear attack."

On the issue of the West Bank building moratorium, the rabbinical group said, "There were leaders that knew how to stand up to American pressure. Ben Gurion did not give in on the status of Jerusalem and the Negev. Eshkol started the Six-Day War. Begin bombed the Iraqi reactor. All of these examples despite US pressure and eventually resulted in the reinforcement of Israel's status. The world and the US Congress appreciate winners and strong partners, not necessarily spineless humanists."

"The government is helping the enemy expel Israel from its holy land," the ruling claimed. "To this end, it gives them many resources in land, weapons, water, propaganda, morale, and human resources in vilifying the Jewish people in world opinion. This is hostile, foreign, and treasonous policy against the Jewish people … This policy is aimed at preparing for ethnic cleansing by expelling 400,000 Jews from their land through a civil war and endangering th lives of our people in Israel and the world."

The 'Sanhedrin' judges concluded, "The State leadership must become religious and develop a perception of war and security fitting of justice and the goals of its people that stem from the uniqueness and special status of the people of Israel. To this end, it must consult with the learned of Israel so that they may show it the path to return, part of which is outlined in this document and other documents written by the 'Sanhedrin' leadership on the obligation of the government in times of war."