Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu
Rabbi Shmuel EliyahuArutz Sheva

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of Tzfat and a member of the Chief Rabbinate, spoke on attorney and lecturer Tamir Dortal's "Al Hamashma'ut" podcast about the new kashrut reform, which privatizes kashrut (kosher) supervision, breaking the Chief Rabbinate's monopoly.

Rabbi Eliyahu and Dortal also spoke about the changes taking place in the IDF.

On the issue of the Reform movement and the Western Wall, Rabbi Eliyahu said that the Reform movement abandoned the Western Wall over 100 years ago at the Pittsburgh conference.

The assimilation of Diaspora Jews and the disintegration of their Jewish identity "is a disaster [caused] by the Reform movement. It's the hole in the bucket. Because of them, millions of Jews leave Judaism and say it's not a big deal if the Jewish People are erased. That's the phrase they use."

He also slammed Women of the Wall, claiming, "They don't want to pray, they want to disturb others."

With regard to Arab violence in the Negev and in mixed cities, Rabbi Eliyahu said, "They run wild because that's their culture, not because [Otzma Yehudit Chairman MK Itamar] Ben Gvir did something or because the religious community did something."

"It is forbidden to rent apartments to them," Rabbi Eliyahu emphasized. He noted that in Tzfat, because no one would rent apartments to Arabs, the city's residents were able to walk freely, even when there were riots in other locations.

The two also spoke about the LGBT movement and religious LGBT individuals, with Rabbi Eliyahu emphasizing that contrary to popular discourse, there is a solution for those who are dealing with this issue: "In 90% of the cases I know, in the end they built families and they live happy lives."