Rabbis: Settler compensation against Jewish law

The 'Association of Rabbis for Saving Lives', will this week issue a Halachic (Jewish law) ruling which forbids Jews to accept compensation from the government for being forced to leave their homes in the Territories.

The ruling will be signed by hundreds of rabbis, including settler and non-settler religious leaders, Army Radio reported.

The aim of the ruling is to give moral support to those settlers not wishing to leave their homes in the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank under Prime Minister Sharon's disengagement plan.

Kiryat Motzkin Rabbi David Druckman speaking on Army Radio on Sunday confirmed that a group of rabbis will issue the halachic ruling this week.

The ruling is based on the "absolute rejection" of evacuating any settlements in the Land of Israel, Druckman said.

Druckman added that, according to Jewish law, "the taking of bribes for evacuating from the Land of Israel" is absolutely forbidden.

Under Sharon's plan, settlers who willingly leave their homes and relocate elsewhere will be eligible for government compensation. Some reports have put the amount of compensation at between $300,000 to $400,000 per family, taking into account the type of settlement and amount of time a family has lived there.

Druckman and the rabbis which make up the Association of Rabbis for Saving Lives dispute the very use of the word "compensation", preferring instead to use the words "fraud" and "bribes".

"'Compensation' is a cynical translation of what is bribery through and through," Druckman said.

Quoting the Shulchan Aruch, the leading Halachic source, Druckman argues that it is forbidden to "remove Jews from the Land of Israel."

"Our aim is to convince the settlers not to evacuate," Druckman said.