In this case, it's not an American fundamentalist evangelical. It's rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, the former chief Rabbi of Israel-- an Israeli fundamentalist religious extremist.
The Jerusalm post reports that, in response to recent Kassam rocket bombings originating in Gaza, that he suggested that Gaza be carpet bombed.
All civilians living in Gaza are collectively guilty for Kassam attacks on Sderot, former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu has written in a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Eliyahu ruled that there was absolutely no moral prohibition against the indiscriminate killing of civilians during a potential massive military offensive on Gaza aimed at stopping the rocket launchings.
The letter, published in Olam Katan [Small World], a weekly pamphlet to be distributed in synagogues nationwide this Friday, cited the biblical story of the Shechem massacre (Genesis 34) and Maimonides' commentary (Laws of Kings 9, 14) on the story as proof texts for his legal decision.
According to Jewish war ethics, wrote Eliyahu, an entire city holds collective responsibility for the immoral behavior of individuals. In Gaza, the entire populace is responsible because they do nothing to stop the firing of Kassam rockets.
The former chief rabbi also said it was forbidden to risk the lives of Jews in Sderot or the lives of IDF soldiers for fear of injuring or killing Palestinian noncombatants living in Gaza.
Wikipedia reports this Falwell look-alike was was criticized for stating that the 2004 Tsunami was (pre-emptive) "divine punishment" for Asian governments supporting Israel's unilateral disengagement plan plan. And he was criticized for alluding to Reform Judaism being a cause of the Holocaust.
Proving that loony tune judgement can be hereditary, The Jerusalm Post article quoted the rabbi's son, Shmuel Eliyahu:
"If they don't stop after we kill 100, then we must kill a thousand," said Shmuel Eliyahu. "And if they do not stop after 1,000 then we must kill 10,000. If they still don't stop we must kill 100,000, even a million. Whatever it takes to make them stop."
One of the biggest problems Israel has is the same problem the US, Iran Pakistan and Afghanistan have. Far right, fundamentalist religious extremists who would happily impose their values and beliefs upon the whole population have worked their way into positions of power. In Israel, the extremists are religious zionists. In the US they are evangelical Christians. In Iran, Shiites, in Afghanistan, the Taliban. All of them are dangers to the future of the planet, who would sell out the future to force the vast majority of secular citizens to live under their intolerant rules.
the author of this article is Jewish, and embarassed that a Jew would behave this way, both foolish and hateful. Then again, foolishness and hate infects all the branches of humanity.
