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Orthodox Columnist in the Newspaper
HaZofeh:
"Reform Jews Deserve to be Stoned to Death"
As reported in Haaretz on December 1, 2002, Orthodox columnist Shaul Shiff wrote in HaZofeh, the newspaper of the Mafdal - the National Religious Party on November 27th 2002 that "Reform Jews deserve punishment of death by stoning...this is the requirement of Halach (religious law) for such people." In response to criticism that his article might be taken literally by some of his readers and might well result in overt acts of violence and even murder, Shiff replied that he did not mean that his words should be taken literally but however, his statement reflected the true position of the Torah and the Halacha. In his view punishment would apply only to the Reform Rabbis and leaders who mislead their innocent lay followers.
HEMDAT, has written to the Attorney General requesting that he investigate whether Shiff should be indicted for incitement to violence and slurs and disparagement of a religious group which is in specific violation of the law..
In another recent case, the Attorney General ruled, that the while he detested the despicable words of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in his weekly televised sermon that "Reform women who wear a Talit (prayer
shawl) in prayer, should be strangled with a Talit and buried." He would not prosecute him for incitement to violence since he did not believe that anyone would actually act on the former Chief Rabbi's words or that there was a real and imminent danger of acts of violence.
Professor Zvi Sobel, Chair of HEMDAT, views such passive acceptance and tolerance of severe and overt verbal attacks, incitement and attempts at
deligitimization by the Orthodox of the alternative streams of Judaism as an intolerable situation in a democratic society that must be fought against vigorously both by the Jews of Israel together with the Liberal streams of Judaism in the Diaspora. The Jews of the world should not have to face the State of Israel's tolerance towards overt attacks on their honor, their religious beliefs and their legitimacy by the Orthodox who hold a monopoly on religion in Israel.