Israeli attorney general looking into rental ruling

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(JTA) — Israel’s attorney general is checking whether 39 municipal rabbis who ruled that Jews should not rent to non-Jews broke the law.

"The attorney general thinks the statements attributed to the rabbis are very problematic in several aspects and apparently — at least as far as public officials are concerned — are inappropriate public conduct," Haaretz on Dec. 10 quoted Yehuda Weinstein’s office as saying.

Weinstein’s office was investigating whether any law had been broken, responding to a request from Ilan Gilon, a Knesset member with the Meretz Party.

Separately, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Elyashiv, the head of the Lithuanian sector of the haredi Orthodox community, also condemned the ruling.

"I’ve said for some time that there are rabbis who must have their pens taken away from them," Haaretz quoted Elyashiv as saying.

A host of American Jewish organizations, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also denounced the ruling, which was issued last week.

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