MK Esawi Frej (Meretz) announced on Friday that he will approach Religious Services Minister David Azoulay (Shas) and Tzfat Mayor Ilan Shohat and demand the immediate dismissal of the chief rabbi of Tzfat, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, who said it is a mitzvah to break the Sabbath in order to stop a fire and perpetrators of fires, and even shoot at them if needed.
"A person who encourages citizens to take the law into their own hands should be prosecuted and must not continue to serve in public office. If Shmuel Eliyahu previously used his public position to prevent renting apartments [to Arabs], this time he is calling for extrajudicial executions, words which must be questioned by the police and which certainly do not allow him to continue to hold public office," said Frej.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)