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.Anyone who failed in the test wasslain." (S.Runciman, The Sicilian Vespers, Cambridge University Press,1958, p.215.) The third example is recent: in the summer of1980following an assassination attempt by Jewish terrorists in whichMayor Bassam Shak'a of Nablus lost both his legs and Mayor KarimKhalaf of Ramallah lost a foota group of Jewish Nazis gathered in thecampus of Tel- Aviv University, roasted a few cats and offered theirmeat to passers- by as "shish- kebab from the legs of the Arab mayors."Anyone who witnessed this macabre orgyas I didwould have to admitthat some horrors defy explanation in the present state of knowledge.26.One of the early quirks of Jabotinsky (founder of the party then ledby Begin) was to propose, in about 1912, the creation of two Jewishstates, one in Palestine and the other in Angola: the former, being poorin natural resources, would be subsidized by the riches of the latter.27.Herzl went to Russia to meet von Plehve in August 1903, less thanfour months after the hideous Kishinev pogrom, for which the latterwas known to be responsible.Herzl proposed an alliance, based ontheir common wish to get most of the Jews out of Russia and, in theshorter term, to divert Jewish support away from the socialistmovement.The Tsarist minister started the first interview (8 August) byobserving that he regarded himself as "an ardent supporter of Zionism."When Herzl went on to describe the aims of Zionism, von Plehveinterrupted: "You are preaching to the converted." Amos Elon, Herzel,"Am "Oved, 1976 pp.415- 9, in Hebrew.28.Dr.Joachim Prinz, Wir Juden, Berlin, 1934, pp.150- 1.29.Ibid., pp.154- 5.30.For example see ibid., p.136.Even worse expressions of sympathywith Nazism were voices by the extremist Lohamey Herut Yisra'el (SternGang) as late as 1941.Dr.Prinz was, in Zionist terms, a "dove." In the1970s he even patronized the U.S.Jewish movement Breira, until he wasdissuaded by Golda Meir. Chapter 5The Laws Against Non-JewsAs explained in Chapter 3, the Halakhah, that is the legal system ofclassical Judaismas practiced by virtually all Jews from the 9th centuryto the end of the 18th and as maintained to this very day in the form ofOrthodox Judaismis based primarily on the Babylonian Talmud.However, because of the unwieldy complexity of the legal disputationsrecorded in the Talmud, more manageable codifications of talmudic lawbecame necessary and were indeed compiled by successive generationsof rabbinical scholars.Some of these have acquired great authority andare in general use.For this reasons we shall refer for the most part tosuch compilations (and their most reputable commentaries) rather thandirectly to the Talmud.It is however correct to assume that thecompilation referred to reproduces faithfully the meaning of thetalmudic text and the additions made by later scholars on the basis ofthat meaning.The earliest code of talmudic law which is still of major importance isthe Mishneh Torah written by Moses Maimonides in the late 12thcentury.The most authoritative code, widely used to date as ahandbook, is the Shulhan 'Arukh composed by R.Yosef Karo in the late16th century as a popular condensation of his own much morevoluminous Beyt Yosef which was intended for the advanced scholar.The Shulhan 'Arukh is much commented upon; in addition to classicalcommentaries dating from the 17th century, there is an important 20thcentury one, Mishnab Berurah.Finally, the Talmudic Encyclopediaamodern compilation published in Israel from the 1950s and edited bythe country's greatest Orthodox rabbinical scholarsis a goodcompendium of the whole talmudic literature.Murder and GenocideAccording to the Jewish religion, the murder of a Jew is a capitaloffense and one of the three most heinous sins (the other two beingidolatry and adultery).Jewish religious courts and secular authoritiesare commanded to punish, even beyond the limits of the ordinaryadministration of justice, anyone guilty of murdering a Jew.A Jew whoindirectly causes the death of another Jew is, however, only guilty ofwhat talmudic law calls a sin against the "laws of Heaven," to bepunished by God rather than by man.When the victim is a Gentile, the position is quite different.A Jew whomurders a Gentile is guilty only of a sin against the laws of Heaven, notpunishable by a court.[1] To cause indirectly the death of a Gentile is no sin at all.[2]Thus, one of the two most important commentators on the Shulhan'Arukh explains that when it comes to a Gentile, "one must not lift one'shand to harm him, but one may harm him indirectly, for instance byremoving a ladder after he had fallen into a crevice.there is noprohibition here, because it was not done directly." [3] He points out,however, that an act leading indirectly to a Gentile's death is forbiddenif it may cause the spread of hostility towards Jews.[4]A Gentile murderer who happens to be under Jewish jurisdiction mustbe executed whether the victim was Jewish or not.However, if thevictim was Gentile and the murderer converts to Judaism, he is notpunished.[5]All this has a direct and practical relevance to the realities of the Stateof Israel.Although the state's criminal laws make no distinctionbetween Jew and Gentile, such distinction is certainly made byOrthodox rabbis, who in guiding their flock follow the Halakhah.Ofspecial importance is the advice they give to religious soldiers.Since even the minimal interdiction against murdering a Gentileoutright applies only to "Gentiles with whom we [the Jews] are not atwar," various rabbinical commentators in the past drew the logicalconclusion that in wartime all Gentiles belonging to a hostilepopulation may, or even should be killed.[6] Since 1973 this doctrine isbeing publicly propagated for the guidance of religious Israeli soldiers.The first such official exhortation was included in a booklet publishedby the Central Region Command of the Israeli Army, whose areaincludes the West Bank.In this booklet the Command's Chief Chaplainwrites:When our forces come across civilians during a war or in hot pursuitor in a raid, so long as there is no certainty that those civilians areincapable of harming our forces, then according to the Halakhah theymay and even should be killed.Under no circumstances should anArab be trusted, even if he makes an impression of being civilized.Inwar, when our forces storm the enemy, they are allowed and evenenjoined by the Halakhah to kill even good civilians, that is, civilianswho are ostensibly good.[7]The same doctrine is expounded in the following exchange of lettersbetween a young Israeli soldier and his rabbi, published in the yearbookof one of the country's most prestigious religious colleges, MidrashiyyatNo'am, where many leaders and activists of the National Religious Partyand Gush Emunim have been educated.[8]Letter from the soldier Moshe to Rabbi Shim'on Weiser:With God's help, to His Honor, my dear Rabbi, First I would like to ask how you and your family are.I hope allis well
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