Ex-Security Chiefs Demand Probe of Rabbi's 'Rodef Law' Fatwa

Twenty former senior security and legal officials have petitioned Israel Police's head of investigations, Commander Boaz Balt, demanding a criminal investigation into Rabbi Gdalia Axelrod. Axelrod, formerly head of the Haifa Rabbinical Court and a prominent Chabad rabbi in the city, is accused of inciting violence, threats, and incitement to murder through his published statements. The petition was prompted by a ruling issued by Rabbi Axelrod, stating that party leaders supporting a government reliant on Arab parties, even through abstention, fall under the "rodef law" (law of the pursuer). The rabbi argued such a political move would endanger the security of Israelis in Israel and worldwide. The statements were published on the Haredi website "Kikar HaShabbat." The letter to the police was signed by twenty public figures, including former Shin Bet heads Carmi Gillon and Ami Ayalon, former Mossad heads Danni Yatom and Tamir Pardo, former IDF Chief of Staff and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, retired generals, National Academy of Sciences President Prof. David Harel, and former senior legal officials like Adv. Talia Sasson and Adv. Eli Bachar. Copies were also sent to Police Commissioner Dani Levy, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and State Prosecutor Amit Issman. The signatories emphasized the historical and practical significance of using the halachic concept of "rodef law," particularly near the anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. They explained that "rodef law" is an exceptional halachic permission to harm, or even kill, an immediate and clear threat to another person's life, and warned that applying it to party leaders could be interpreted as a license to harm them. To illustrate the severity, they cited a 2001 Supreme Court ruling by Justice Mishael Cheshin regarding Margalit Har-Shefi, which described "rodef law" as a "code word for a difficult and severe content," implying that declaring someone subject to it means they are "condemned to death." The signatories urged that Rabbi Axelrod's words not be dismissed as delusion, stating they constitute a clear call to violent action for his Torah-studying followers and exceed the bounds of free speech. Given Rabbi Axelrod's standing as a recognized religious authority and the specific targeting of party leaders supporting cooperation with Arab parties, they warned of a "tangible danger of violence, up to the possibility of political assassination." The petitioners included screenshots from Facebook showing user comments supporting the rabbi, calling collaborators "traitors," and justifying the "rodef law" ruling. They argued these reactions demonstrate the potential for incitement to violence. The letter concludes with a demand for Rabbi Axelrod's immediate questioning on suspicion of incitement to violence, threats, extortion, and incitement to commit an offense, "before the fear is realized and we witness another political assassination in Israel."