Safed Chief Rabbi Rejects Combining Religious Faith With Oslo Accords Support

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the chief rabbi of Safed, strongly criticized left-wing religious activist Yaya Pink for supporting the Oslo Accords, asserting that religious belief and backing the accords are incompatible. Eliyahu responded sharply to Pink's remarks about his past work with then-Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli on projects evaluating roads and junctions in Judea and Samaria based on whether they serve a political solution or lead to a binational state.

Rabbi Eliyahu emphasized that the Torah explicitly commands the Jewish people to inherit the land, citing verses from the biblical portion of Massei that instruct to dispossess the current inhabitants and settle the land, including Jerusalem, Hebron, Shechem, and Elon Moreh. He stated, "Either you believe in God or you believe in the Oslo Accords. You cannot believe in both because the Torah commands us to inherit the land."

He further insisted that a religious person must believe in God and Torah teachings, and that someone who identifies as religious cannot support policies that contradict the Torah, such as freezing budgets for Judea and Samaria or dismantling settlements. Rabbi Eliyahu concluded that religious individuals are obligated to establish settlements in these areas rather than dismantle them, as failing to do so means they do not truly believe in the Torah or God.