Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, posted a video on social media responding to clashes between Jews and Arabs in Samaria, saying that violence carried out in the name of settling the land is a “distortion" of the Torah’s commandment.
“What we saw in the village of Qusra this week is not what it means to settle the land," Leiter said.
“You may have heard many people speak of Yishuv Eretz Yisrael, the commandment to settle the Land. But this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, teaches us that there is another, deeper dimension to this commandment."
Leiter cited the Torah’s command: “You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements, and they shall govern the people with due justice."
“Every city in the Land of Israel must have a system of justice that upholds righteous judgment - and that, Jewish scholars say, is integral to the task of settling the land," he said.
“This is about more than geography. It is not just about building homes, cultivating the land, and establishing communities - that’s all important, but Jewish life in Israel has a profound moral dimension, and carries with it a responsibility: to build a society founded on justice, morality, and the rule of law."
Leiter then cited another Torah verse: “Justice, justice shall you pursue, so that you may thrive in the land that God is giving you."
“You cannot settle the land, as my eminent colleague, Ambassador Mike Huckabee brilliantly stated, with ‘unsettling’ behaviour," he said.
“There is a profound connection between pursuing justice and inheriting the Land. The Torah is teaching us that possessing the Land is not an end in itself. Our right to build a national home comes with a responsibility to create a society worthy of that home."
Leiter said violence carried out while claiming to act on behalf of the land represented a corruption of that principle.
“When a gang of hooligans wreaks havoc with gratuitous violence, diverting energy from Israel’s own military and law enforcement, while claiming that it is for the sake of the land - that is a distortion, even a sacrilege," he said.
“The Land of Israel is not only a place we are commanded to inhabit. It is a place where we are commanded to live by justice."
Leiter concluded: “Shabbat Shalom."