Demonstration against the deal, held earlier this week
Demonstration against the deal, held earlier this weekChaim Goldberg/Flash90

Rabbi Itamar Leshem, teacher at the Nir Yeshiva in Kiryat Arba, responded Thursday morning to the impending ceasefire-prisoner swap deal expected to be signed with Hamas.

In a message to his students, he asked, "How did the hand not shake? How did the ink not freeze? How can this evil have been done? Who dares to ignore the nation's spirit of bravery? Who dares to kick everything holy, who despises the blood that was spilled?"

Paraphrasing verses from the Bible, he asked, "How is the blood of our enemies redder than the blood of our soldiers? Who appointed himself emissary to declare surrender? How can we extinguish the fire in the heart of rivers of blood, tears, and soot? Who has appointed you to surrender areas of our land and make a treaty with the people of the land, the thorns and thistles?"

Continuing his criticism of the deal, he added, "Who is scoffing at the vision and preferring now-ism? Who is selling the birthright for a bowl of lentils? This is a red, red thing, and it is likely to become redder."

"Who will comfort the widows of tomorrow? Who will, tomorrow, fight the Amalek of yesterday? 'Behold, to obey [G-d] is better than a peace-offering; to hearken (is better) than the fat of rams' (Samuel 1 15:22)," he concluded.