Summary
Rabbi Yehuda Amital, a leader of the “dovish fringe” within Gush Emunim in Lustick’s Chapter 5, who holds that the interest of the people of Israel precedes the interest of the Land of Israel, and that pikuach nefesh (preserving life) applies to territorial questions (For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, Chapter 5, lines 5119-6118).
Details
- Amital is named among the rabbis and leaders — with Zevulon Hammer, Yehuda Ben-Meir, Yochanan Ben-Yaacov and Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein — shaken by the losses the Yeshivot Hesder sustained in the Lebanon War into considering peace and the saving of Jewish lives as valid reasons to delay demands for exclusive Jewish rule of all the territories (For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, Chapter 5, lines 5119-5400).
- Amital: “If opportunities for a genuine and final peace with the Arabs materialize … and if we are faced with the choice of more Jews in the Land of Israel, with less holy land under Jewish rule, or fewer Jews in the Land of Israel and more holy land under Jewish rule, we should choose the first option” (For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, Chapter 5, lines 5119-5400).
- Amital’s opinions triggered a wave of angry letters and articles in Nekuda denouncing his views as a contradiction of the basic premise of Gush Emunim and challenging his right to be considered part of the movement (For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, Chapter 5, lines 5119-5400).
- Amital strongly criticised Gush rabbis who endorsed the war in Lebanon as a means to “liberate” large areas of the homeland at the expense of Jewish lives: “there is a hierarchy of values in Judaism … We must consider the relative priority of three values: Israel, Torah, and the Land of Israel. The interest of the people of Israel precedes that of the interest of the Land of Israel” (For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, Chapter 5, lines 5900-6118).
- Amital, Yoel Ben-Nun and Aharon Lichtenstein have expressed such strong concern for maintaining the safety and unity of the people that Eliyakim Haetzni and others have suggested they may no longer qualify to be counted within the “camp of those faithful to the Land of Israel” (For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, Chapter 5, lines 5900-6118).
Related pages
For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, Gush Emunim, Yeshivot Hesder, Yoel Ben-Nun, Eliyakim Haetzni