Israel’s Orthodox religious establishment appeared to be sharply divided today in its reactions to Monday’s bomb attacks on the West Bank which maimed the Mayors of Nablus and Ramallah and injured 10 other Arabs and a Druze policeman. Although the perpetrators have not been identified, it is widely believed in Israel that they were members of an extremist Jewish group.
MK Haim Druckman of the National Religious Party, who is spiritual mentor of the militant Gush Emunim, seemed pleased by the bombings and the casualties they caused. Speaking at an NRP Knesset caucus, Druckman quoted a Biblical verse — “Thus shall perish all thy enemies, O Lord.” That aroused the ire of some of his party colleagues. Minister of Religious Affairs Aharon Abu-Hatzeira, told Druckman that the sentiments he expressed were totally divergent from Jewish tradition. MK David Glass, an NRP dove, remarked “Woe to the pupils of such a teacher. “They will hear wishful thinking and translate it into action.”
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