(Ha'aretz) Aluf Benn and Amos Harel - The Israeli cabinet voted 14-2 Sunday against demolishing some two dozen synagogues in the evacuated Gaza Strip settlements. While supporters of the synagogue destruction said they didn't want the Palestinians to desecrate or demolish them, opponents of the demolition say Jews must not be the ones to destroy synagogues, regardless of what the Palestinians do. The government had voted two weeks ago to destroy the synagogues, and the state defended the demolition before the High Court of Justice, which ruled that destroying the synagogues was permissible. However, at Sunday's cabinet meeting, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said, "Jewish sentiment, Jewish law, and deeply significant emotions are involved here, [telling me] I must not give a directive to the Israel Defense Forces to destroy the synagogues. And if critics and cynics say I changed my mind, I accept this."
2005-09-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive