In an interview with Galei Yisrael Radio, Tzfat Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Shlita addressed the imminent demolition of Beit Knesset Ayelet HaShachar in Givat Ze’ev by the state. He spoke of his visit this week to the community and the shul, as well as his meetings with gabbaim and mispallalim who continue efforts to prevent the demolition.

“I was there and saw the humiliation, the destruction. The judicial system is destroying public support. I live in the Galil and see thousands of illegal Arab homes and mosques, all built without required permits, built on Jewish lands. No one dares to touch them. There is an unfair policy regarding shuls and churches and mosques”.

The rabbi explained how the extreme left-wing has been working for three years to achieve its goal, the destruction of the shul. He reiterated that shul members have repeatedly offered to raise money, far more than the land is worth but the court would not settle for anything less than demolition.

Rabbi Eliyahu accuses the court of opening the floodgates protecting the holy places in Israel and today, no church or mosque is safe either. “For me, demolishing a shul is the same as burning a Sefer Torah. The moment its kedusha is violated, the moment the court violated the kedusha of the shul I do not know what the citizens themselves will do to these holy places” Rabbi Eliyahu concluded.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)