Ovadia Yosef Frees Man Who Tried to Kill Him
What would be your attitude toward someone who had plotted to kill you? I can’t help thinking that I’d be more than a little broiges.
You would imagine that the stakes are upped a little when the target of the murder plot is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the Shas party. After all, his would-be murderer was planning his death as an act of terrorism, and Yosef famously said in 2001 that it is “forbidden to be merciful” to Palestinian terrorists. People initially presumed that the “them” referred to Palestinians in general, but he then clarified that he meant Arab terrorists.
But Yosef has just given his blessing to the freeing of Salah Hamouri, who plotted to kill him in 2005, in the second release of prisoners for the Shalit deal later this month. Hamouri is a Jerusalemite with French citizenship, and Yosef made his position clear to the French Ambassador to Israel, Christophe Bigot, who visited his home.
Netanyahu said he would only cede to French pressure to release Hamouri if Yosef agrees.
In what must have been a difficult and emotionally-taxing decision to reach, Yosef put aside his personal feelings for national priorities. Shas Chairman Eli Yishai explained his thought process, saying: “Rabbi Yosef appreciates the French president’s actions for the benefit of the State of Israel and the Jewish community in France. Therefore, as part of his general outlook and concern for the Jewish nation, he has decided to grant the request.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
