The Israeli prosecution seems oddly reluctant to move against Rabbi Yosef Elitzur of Yitzhar, one of the authors “The King’s Torah,” a controversial tome offering halakhic conditions under which it is permissible to kill non-Jews

Elitzur has failed to respond to letters summoning him to a hearing ahead of possible legal proceedings against him. The first such letter was sent in December 2016, after Attorney-General Avichai Mendelblit announced intentions to indict, subject to a hearing for Elitzur. Under the law, the prosecution must wait at least a month between sending a summons to a hearing and putting the defendant on trial without hearing his side first. That 30-day hiatus ended in January 2017, yet no indictments have been served. A three-month delay in filing charges after sending a letter on a hearing is highly unusual and unreasonable, especially after the delays in the case already. Elitzur is one of the leaders of the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva. Back in 2009, in an op-ed that may be used in his prosecution, he called for violence against Arabs, writing: “If the Arabs win because of violence against Jews, the Jews can also win through violence against Arabs. The strength of women, children and the old can be utilized to block a given road and during that time, a harsher action can be taken against hostile elements down that same road.” In another article, Elitzur praised perpetrators of anti-Arab hate crimes known as “price tag” attacks, and said that “while no one wants to live in a state of anarchy, there are times when we must live by the rules of the jungle and show evil gentiles that Jews can also play that game.”