Religion

Reform Jews Charge Israel's Former Chief Rabbi With Libel

Yesterday in Israel, members of the Reform Jewish movement (including Holocaust survivors) filed a libel complaint with police officials against the country's former Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Mordechai Eliyahu. In a radio interview with the station Kol Haemet on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, Eliyahu blamed the creation of Reform Judaism in Germany for the death of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. YNet News reports Eliyahu explained that while the victims were innocent, "the wrath of God does not distinguish between the righteous and the evil ones". Under Israeli law, a civil action cannot be filed against Eliyahu because his statements were made against an entire group, not one individual. Instead, a criminal complaint had to be filed with the police.

From Religion Clause posted 2007-04-19.