The head of the Union of Local Rabbis, Rabbi Amihai Eliyahu, has addressed the decision of the Supreme Court not to accept the appeal to deprive Rabbi Yaakov Ariel of the Israel Prize for Torah Literature. In February, Rabbi Rafi Peretz announced that Rabbi Ariel would receive the prize, igniting controversy especially in the LGBT community who resent statements that Rabbi Ariel allegedly made, calling LGBT a "mental disorder."
"I am delighted that the Supreme Court has refused to support this attempt to silence those who stand up for Jewish and Torah values," Rabbi Eliyahu said. "I find it despicable that anti-Jewish groups do their best to discredit Jewish culture and its leaders simply because their views do not accord with their own values. These groups profess support for the freedom of expression, but only when that expression is one that they agree with. They try to suppress any other viewpoints with appeals [to the courts] and by other bureaucratic means.
"The great light of the Torah of Israel in general, and the Torah of Rabbi Ariel in particular, illuminates us all. In the end, light always triumphs over darkness. There is no one more suited to receive the Israel Prize than Rabbi Ariel. All the same, the Supreme Court was particular to note that 'Rabbi Ariel's views are not among the consensus, to our distress.' It seems that the Supreme Court judges have forgotten that their own views are no longer found among the consensus of the Israeli public," Rabbi Eliyahu concluded.