Police arrest suspect who asked former chief rabbi for religious approval to kill AG Baharav-Miara

The former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, handed over to the Israel Police a letter he had received, in which a person threatened to murder Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and asked for religious approval.

Following the report by Rabbi Yosef to the police, an investigation was started and police announced that they had arrested a 36-year-old suspect from south Jerusalem.

In the letter, the man had asked Rabbi Yosef to impose a “ruling of persecution” against the attorney general. This ruling, called din rodef in Hebrew, refers to an obscure halakhic ruling that permits harming a person, including up to death, to prevent the breaking of another law. (Halakhah is the Hebrew word used to describe Rabbinic jurisprudence and rulings on religious life.) 

“Following a request from the Ministry of Religious Services, the Jerusalem District Police opened an investigation following a letter found near a residential building in the city, which contained an explicit threat to harm a public figure,” the police said in a statement. 

The suspect's letter, which was delivered to Rabbi Yosef, read, “The rabble desecrates the Name of Heaven in their activities against the world of the Torah. ‘And you will not be intimidated by anyone’,” he wrote, quoting a statement from Deuteronomy 1:17. [You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s].

“I am willing to kill the attorney general if I receive consent from three elders of the generation. Without consent, I will not do it.”  

The suspect, who is apparently a rabbi himself, signed the letter in his own handwriting, writing, “Forbidden, forbidden, forbidden.” 

“Upon receiving the aforementioned report, the police immediately opened an investigation aimed at locating the suspect who left this letter,” the statement continued. 

The suspect was arrested at his home and taken for interrogation. He is expected to have a formal arraignment and charging Thursday. 

The Ministry of Religious Services contacted the police as soon as the letter was discovered, saying Rabbi Yosef had warned of “a threat that seems real and could immediately endanger the life of the attorney general.” 

Attorney General Baharav-Miara has become a very unpopular figure among the right-wing supporters of the coalition government for her opposition to several coalition initiatives, including the Judicial Reform laws, the firing and installment of various government officials, and over her role as the government’s legal advisor. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and several of his coalition partners, have even accused Baharav-Miara of not taking threats against the prime minister seriously. 

The Movement for Quality Government issued a statement following the arrest of the suspect, calling for police and government officials to take the threat seriously. 

“As we warned from the beginning – turning the fight over the attorney general into a personal fight and the relentless incitement against her are leading to an extremely dangerous place where extremists allow themselves to physically harm her,” the statement read. “The blood that will be spilled here, God forbid, will be on the hands of those who created this atmosphere.” 

“We call on the police and government officials to treat this threat with the appropriate severity and immediately stop all incitement against Baharav-Miara,” the statement continued. “Extremists must not be allowed to harm the country's most senior law enforcement officer.” 

On Thursday, Jerusalem Magistrate's Court extended the detention of the suspect by one day, despite a police request to extend the detention by one week, as they seek to find out if there are any other suspects. In their request, the police noted, “The suspect linked himself to the incident. He admitted that he intended to murder the attorney general if the elders of the generation would allow it.” 

The police also noted that the suspect originally came to Rabbi Yosef’s residence, but when he was unable to speak with the rabbi, he left and sent the letter.