Torat Hamelekh

Torat Hamelekh , or The King's Torah , is a controversial Jewish halachic book by Rabbis Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef Elitzur that "discusses the circumstances in which Jews would be allowed by Jewish law to kill Gentiles , based on a selective reading of Jewish texts". The book provoked a wide public controversy. The first volume, published in 2009, mainly deals with the laws related to the killing of gentiles, in peacetime and in wartime. This part begins with the principled prohibition of killing Gentiles and continues with a discussion of situations in which it is permissible and sometimes even desirable to kill Gentiles, as a punishment for not observing the seven mitzvot of Noah's sons or in times of war. The second volume was published about six years later, at the end of 2016, and it deals with public and royal laws. This part deals with the obligation to establish a government, the individual's commitment to the government and the authority of the government to endanger the life of the individual by sending him to war. The first volume of the book provoked a wide public controversy, with its critics claiming that it constitutes an incitement to racism and violence. In addition, an intra-rabbinic controversy arose, with his critics claiming that he is not in accordance with Orthodox law. Its writers were interrogated by the police, but were not prosecuted for it. However, the High Court severely criticized its authors and stated that "it is difficult to doubt the racist approach of the authors".