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"Why don't they just perish from this World?" - Rabbi Yosef

Andalublue

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"All these evil people should perish from this world ... God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians," said Rabbi Ovadia Yosef during his Shabbat sermon last week.

Are these the words of someone trying to derail peace negaotiations before they even get under way?

Or are they the genocidal thoughts of a race hater?

Perhaps they are just the ramblings of a deluded (but powerful) old man, but at this time, in this inflamatory language, can we see the reflection of the attitudes of a section of the Israeli government?

How should the rest of the World view these statements?

U.S.: Rabbi's 'offensive' remarks harm peace efforts - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
 
Sounds like he wants to exterminate all Palestinians.
 
He himself will soon perish from this world, so the best thing to do right now is to put him on ignore. Don't know why anyone takes him seriously anymore, after he wished death to Bush for the "Gaza Withdrawal scheme" and said that Sharon deserves what he got.
 
Just goes to show that there are nutcases in any faith.
 
He himself will soon perish from this world, so the best thing to do right now is to put him on ignore. Don't know why anyone takes him seriously anymore, after he wished death to Bush for the "Gaza Withdrawal scheme" and said that Sharon deserves what he got.

Can you put him on ignore? Whilst it's an attractive option, he still heads the Council of Sages that controls Shas party policy, doesn't he? As the spiritual and de facto leader of a coalition partner, how can he not be taken seriously?

He appears to be an overtly racist voice close to the centre of power. In 2001 he said: "It is forbidden to be merciful to them (the Arabs). You must send missiles to them and annihilate them. They are evil and damnable", and "The Lord shall return the Arabs' deeds on their own heads, waste their seed and exterminate them, devastate them and vanish them from this world." Netanyahu takes him seriously enough to have issued a statement distancing the government from his outburst, the Shas leadership in the Knesset, however has made no such rejection.
 
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Can you put him on ignore? Whilst it's an attractive option, he still heads the Council of Sages that controls Shas party policy, doesn't he? As the spiritual and de facto leader of a coalition partner, how can he not be taken seriously?

He appears to be an overtly racist voice close to the centre of power. In 2001 he said: "It is forbidden to be merciful to them (the Arabs). You must send missiles to them and annihilate them. They are evil and damnable", and "The Lord shall return the Arabs' deeds on their own heads, waste their seed and exterminate them, devastate them and vanish them from this world." Netanyahu takes him seriously enough to have issued a statement distancing the government from his outburst, the Shas leadership in the Knesset, however has made no such rejection.

And the Shas party is a pathetic third world racist party that lives on the orthodox votes. Its power however remains in the civil life (mainly marriage) and not in the foreign affairs field.

It's a funny circle really, those orthodox fanatics mainly don't do their army service, and instead go to their "yeshivas", so those politicians who grow from those places never reach positions such as the ministry of defense.
 
And the Shas party is a pathetic third world racist party that lives on the orthodox votes. Its power however remains in the civil life (mainly marriage) and not in the foreign affairs field.

It's a funny circle really, those orthodox fanatics mainly don't do their army service, and instead go to their "yeshivas", so those politicians who grow from those places never reach positions such as the ministry of defense.

Isn't the government hamstrung to a certain extent by depending on Shas for their Knesset majority? They might like to eject Shas and avoid embarrassments such as this, especially at a time of delicate negotiations with the Palestinians (and the US), but can't distance themselves too far for fear of the government coalition falling apart? On the other hand, keeping them in the coalition inevitably throws doubt on the commitment of the entire Israeli government to the peace process.
 
"All these evil people should perish from this world ... God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians," said Rabbi Ovadia Yosef during his Shabbat sermon last week.

Are these the words of someone trying to derail peace negaotiations before they even get under way?

Or are they the genocidal thoughts of a race hater?

Perhaps they are just the ramblings of a deluded (but powerful) old man, but at this time, in this inflamatory language, can we see the reflection of the attitudes of a section of the Israeli government?

How should the rest of the World view these statements?

U.S.: Rabbi's 'offensive' remarks harm peace efforts - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Maybe the Palestinians should nuke him...oh wait he isn't Iranian
 
Maybe the Palestinians should nuke him...oh wait he isn't Iranian

This isn't The Basement, Bub. If you've got something useful to say, please do, otherwise piss or get off the pot.
 
Isn't the government hamstrung to a certain extent by depending on Shas for their Knesset majority? They might like to eject Shas and avoid embarrassments such as this, especially at a time of delicate negotiations with the Palestinians (and the US), but can't distance themselves too far for fear of the government coalition falling apart? On the other hand, keeping them in the coalition inevitably throws doubt on the commitment of the entire Israeli government to the peace process.

He does not represent Israel as he's not a minister or a politician, so in a normal case Netanyahu wouldn't even have to make it known that he does not share his worldview, but he did it anyway and hence it is known that the Israeli government still has a commitment to the peace process.
 
He does not represent Israel as he's not a minister or a politician, so in a normal case Netanyahu wouldn't even have to make it known that he does not share his worldview, but he did it anyway and hence it is known that the Israeli government still has a commitment to the peace process.

No, he doesn't, but the party he leads most certainly does. It was a good and necessary thing for Netanyahu to reject his statement, but it also needs the Shas leadership in the cabinet and Knesset to do likewise. I guess that's unlikely. So, it throws a spanner (perhaps just a small one) into the process before it even begins. I'm sure everyone here hopes that it won't cause too much damage.

I genuinely wish the negotiations well, perhaps more with hope than expectation, but nonetheless I'll be trying to send good karma.
 
This isn't The Basement, Bub. If you've got something useful to say, please do, otherwise piss or get off the pot.

It is a very valid point: when the Iranian president says that there should be a regime change in Israel just like there was a regime change in Russia in 1991, everyone starts panicking and interprets it as "death threats" that would justify bombings, but when Israeli religious leaders say that all Palestinians should die, then it's just an old guy that should be ignored.
 
It is a very valid point: when the Iranian president says that there should be a regime change in Israel just like there was a regime change in Russia in 1991, everyone starts panicking and interprets it as "death threats" that would justify bombings, but when Israeli religious leaders say that all Palestinians should die, then it's just an old guy that should be ignored.

notice the difference between the bolded bits, there's a slight difference between the leader of a country and an ageing religious bloke.
 
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It is a very valid point: when the Iranian president says that there should be a regime change in Israel just like there was a regime change in Russia in 1991, everyone starts panicking and interprets it as "death threats" that would justify bombings, but when Israeli religious leaders say that all Palestinians should die, then it's just an old guy that should be ignored.

Well, you'll note that I'm not ignoring it, nor is Netanyahu, nor the POTUS. The Ahmadinejad parallel would work should Bibi have been the one saying it. He didn't say it, and there's no evidence that he shares those specific extremist beliefs.
 
He also said in the past that picking your nose on Sabath is desecration of Sabath. Oh and tearing TP squares - also desecration of Sabath... come on...
 
notice the difference between the bolded bits, there's a slight difference between the leader of a country and an ageing religious bloke.

Of course there is a difference. There is also a difference between what they said.
 
How should the rest of the World view these statements?

The world should ignore the nutcase. Don't give him more publicity than necessary. The position held by the Rabbi does not reflect that of his faith or his country so why does it matter.
 
The world should ignore the nutcase. Don't give him more publicity than necessary. The position held by the Rabbi does not reflect that of his faith or his country so why does it matter.

Actually it does reflect his religion.
The hebrew new year is next week, one of the "blessings" is: May there be an end to all our enemies and hators. The Rabbi explained to his deciples that enemies and hators means Palestinians and Abu-Mazen.
 
Actually it does reflect his religion.
The hebrew new year is next week, one of the "blessings" is: May there be an end to all our enemies and hators. The Rabbi explained to his deciples that enemies and hators means Palestinians and Abu-Mazen.

Yeah I've heard some Shas members have done the usual covering and claimed that the blessing means that the enemies of the nation 'end', not neccessarily their deaths but that they will cease being enemies of the nation.
Though I don't think Ovadia was misrepresented here, it's not like this is an unusual statement for him to make.

Quite ironic how he's such a close buddy with Egypt's president, Hussni Mubarak.
 
"All these evil people should perish from this world ... God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians," said Rabbi Ovadia Yosef during his Shabbat sermon last week.
U.S.: Rabbi's 'offensive' remarks harm peace efforts - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

yep...the guy is nuttier than the hat he wears...thats for sure...

Notice though...one lunatic jewish rep makes an idiotic statement and hey now...we got us a bash Israel thread...but how many Palestinians have made the same comments about Israel? And how soon after those comments are made do you see morons jumping in defending the comments.."now...see...you have to see the world from THEIR perspective......"
 
Yeah I've heard some Shas members have done the usual covering and claimed that the blessing means that the enemies of the nation 'end', not neccessarily their deaths but that they will cease being enemies of the nation.
Though I don't think Ovadia was misrepresented here, it's not like this is an unusual statement for him to make.

Quite ironic how he's such a close buddy with Egypt's president, Hussni Mubarak.

If so why repeat with the "blessing": May our enemies dissapear
And I wonder how they explain the "blessing": May our haters be cut off
 
He also said in the past that picking your nose on Sabath is desecration of Sabath. Oh and tearing TP squares - also desecration of Sabath... come on...

The world should ignore the nutcase. Don't give him more publicity than necessary. The position held by the Rabbi does not reflect that of his faith or his country so why does it matter.

It matters, and can't be just dismissed, because he plays a significant role in a party that forms part of the Israeli government. It would be better to ignore it provided there was some indication that his own party's representatives in cabinet and Knesset also ignore his opinions. Is there any reason to believe that they do?
 
yep...the guy is nuttier than the hat he wears...thats for sure...

Notice though...one lunatic jewish rep makes an idiotic statement and hey now...we got us a bash Israel thread...but how many Palestinians have made the same comments about Israel? And how soon after those comments are made do you see morons jumping in defending the comments.."now...see...you have to see the world from THEIR perspective......"

There have been endless threads about the extreme utterances of Moslem/Islamist/Palestinian/Arab religious figures. No one is ignoring one while over-emphasising the other.
 
There have been endless threads about the extreme utterances of Moslem/Islamist/Palestinian/Arab religious figures. No one is ignoring one while over-emphasising the other.

Could you please refer us to all the threads you have started denouncing such?

TIA
 
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