[Video below.] Thousands of supporters rallied for Rabbi Yaakov Yosef in Yerushalayim this afternoon after police interrogated him earlier in the day over his haskama of sefer Toras HaMelech.
The demonstration, which began at 2 pm at Rav Yosef’s home in the Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood, jammed the streets surrounding the area, blocking traffic and making it clear that police had once again crossed a line with the religious public. MKs Yaakov “Ketzaleh” Katz and Michael Ben Ari addressed the crowds.
Hundreds of other demonstrators attempted to block the Tel Aviv-Yerushalayim Highway to protest Rav Yosef’s detention. Police employed riot control measures, including water cannons, in an attempt to control and disperse the crowd. Three of the protesters were arrested.
The sefer concerns the application of halacha to the question of the legal priority of Jewish soldiers’ lives versus the legal importance of killing of enemy civilians in time of war.
Police said they detained Rav Yosef after he refused to answer a summons to appear for questioning months ago.
His son denied the claim. He added that his father agreed to be taken into custody for questioning. Rav Yosef asked authorities why they acted against a Knesset decision that the laws involved do not apply to religious texts.
Last week, police similarly questioned Rabbi Dov Lior, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba, after stopping his car inside a tunnel leading to Yerushalayim as he was driving to a rabbinical meeting in the Binyamin region.
Click below for a video of today’s activities:
[media id=1175 width=400 height=300]
{Arutz Sheva/Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}
there has to be a better way
No one is above the law otherwise our home would be no different than the lawlessness in the uncivilized arab world.