Od Yosef Chai

Leadership

In 2003, the president of the yeshiva Yitzhak Ginzburg was charged with incitement to racism for authoring a book calling Arabs a "cancer". One of the yeshiva heads, Yitzhak Shapira, was investigated by Israeli police for his book, The King's Torah whose main focus is the halachic adjudications of killing non-Jews. The book proved controversial in its declaration that the killing of gentile babies was permissible because of "the future danger that will arise if they are allowed to grow into evil people like their parents."{{cite news

Yeshiva high school closure

On 29 May 1989 a group of several dozen students from the original Nablus Yeshiva rampaged through Kifl Haris killing a 16-year-old and injuring two others. A number of them were detained by Israeli police.

In November 2011 the Israeli Education Ministry closed the religious school associated with the yeshiva. The closure was approved by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein following the recommendation of Shin Bet on the basis of student and staff involvement in violence against Palestinians and Israeli security services. Over a period of years students had been arrested in connection with price tag attacks.

Shimshon Shoshani, the Director General of the Education Ministry, stated that evidence showed the students were perpetrating violent acts against Arabs and Israeli security services with the active support of the Yeshiva Rabbis. He said that the Rabbis were both involved in the violence and the incitement of their students to commit violent acts. Shimshon stated that the violence even occurred during class time and that the school's activities were of minimal educational value. In April 2014, following assaults by Yitzhar residents on an IDF unit sent to supervise the dismantlement of illegal outposts in the settlement, the Israeli government, under the approval of Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon, cracked down by setting up an army post in Yitzhar, and occupying the yeshiva. Major General Avi Mizrahi said to the press that, "This yeshiva doesn't teach Torah. It teaches evil that needs to be eliminated." Yeshiva authorities denounced the precedent of a government closing a place of Torah study and branded the transformation of the yeshiva building into a military post as desecration of a holy place, according to the Jewish halacha.

Funding

Prior to 2013, the yeshiva received government funding associated with four different line items of the Israeli state budget: As of 2009, it received NIS 468,000 from the Education Ministry for the yeshiva high school and NIS 847,000 for the yeshiva gedola (post-high school yeshiva); NIS 707,000 from the Social Affairs Ministry for a rehabilitation project for ultra-Orthodox drop-outs and plus NIS 156,000 for the running costs of a dormitory.

Philip Weiss reported on the Mondoweiss website that payments to the New York-based Central Fund of Israel were directed to the yeshiva.{{cite news

As of 2013, the government had ceased funding the yeshiva, asserting that it would be "grossly unreasonable" to continue funding it in light of the yeshiva's encouragement of violent actions against Palestinians and the security services.

Sanctions

In October 2024, the government of the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on the yeshiva for encouraging violence against non-Jews.

References

References

1. (28 July 2010). "Yitzhar yeshiva demolition planned". Jerusalem Post.
2. Levinson, Chaim. (2012-11-02). "Ministry closes Yitzhar school over violent attacks". Haaretz.
3. Inbari, Motti. (2009). "Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount". State University of New York Press.
4. Yoav Zitun, [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4509265,00.html 'IDF takes over extremist yeshiva in Yitzhar,'] [[Ynet]], 11 April 2014.
5. Estrin, Daniel. (2010-01-29). "Rabbinic Text or Call to Terror?". Forward.
6. Beinart, Peter. (2012). "The Crisis of Zionism". Times Books.
7. Eldar, Akiva. (2009-11-17). "Who is funding the rabbi who endorses killing gentile babies?". Haaretz.
8. Mandel, Jonah. (2010-07-26). "Yitzhar rabbi detained for book on laws of killing gentiles". Jerusalem Post.
9. Harel, Amos. (2011-09-27). "Shin Bet urges Israeli government to halt funding of West Bank yeshiva". Haretz.
10. B'Tselem information sheet update June 1989. p. 10. [https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/sites/default/files2/update_june_1.1989.pdf pdf]
11. Lazaroff, Tovah. (1 Nov 2011). "Education Ministry closes part of West Bank yeshiva". Jerusalem Post.
12. Altman, Yair. (1 Nov 2012). "Government closes down Yitzhar yeshiva". Ynet.
13. [[Uri Blau]], [https://www.haaretz.com/settlementdollars/1.689683 Haaretz Investigation: U.S. Donors Gave Settlements More Than $220 Million in Tax-exempt Funds Over Five Years] [[Haaretz]] 7 December 2015.
14. Yonah Jeremy Bob, [https://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/State-No-funds-for-yeshiva-that-incites-violence-309396 "State: No funds for yeshiva that incites violence"], ''Jerusalem Post'', 10 April 2013
15. "New UK sanctions target illegal outposts and organisations supporting extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank".