Rabbi Dov Lior, the chief rabbi of the Kiryat Arba settlement, is leaving his position in order to move to east Jerusalem. Lior decided just before Rosh Hashanah to step down from the position he has held for 38 years in order to move to the flashpoint Beit Orot neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem, located on…
Rabbi Dov Lior, a leading West Bank rabbi who endorsed a book justifying the killing of non-Jews, issued a religious ruling saying that Jewish law permits the destruction of Gaza to keep southern Israel safe. Lior, chief rabbi of the Kiryat Arba settlement, issued the opinion after receiving questions about Jewish law’s position on harming…
Tensions within Israel’s governing coalition are reaching a boiling point over the impending release of 26 more prisoners, part of the agreement between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Secretary of State Kerry that paved the way for renewal of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. The cabinet is expected to vote on the latest release, the second in the…
That fight within the Jewish Home party over nominations for chief rabbi has more to it than meets the eye. True, it opens up a fault line within the religious Zionist movement, between the liberal wing that backs Rabbi David Stav and the more religiously conservative wing that backs Rabbi Yaakov Ariel. But it’s also…
It wasn’t rioting Palestinian protesters making headlines yesterday, but rather right-wing religious Jews opposing the arrest of Dov Lior, the chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba. Lior was detained by police and questioned in relation to his endorsement of the controversial book “Torat Hamelech” (The King’s Torah) by Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, which justifies the killing of…
Several Israeli religious leaders have been in the news recently — and not for their piety. Here’s a quick roundup: • Rabbi Motti Elon is being formally indicted for sexual offenses against two former students, both of whom were minors at the time of the alleged acts, in 2003 and 2005. Meanwhile, in what may…
Crossposted from Haaretz Dov Lior, the chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba and Hebron, head of the rabbinical committee in the territories and a power broker in the halls of government, is this country’s real prime minister, writer Sefi Rachlevsky said in an op-ed in Haaretz’s Hebrew edition last week. Some of Lior’s doctrines, which made…
