Jewish Law Takes Precedence Over Israeli Law.

By IsraelNationalNews.com

Citizens need not fulfill orders that violate Jewish Law, even according to modern Israeli law. This was the general consensus reached at a Jewish Jurisprudence seminar this past Saturday.

Israel's "Jewish Law Heritage" movement organized the seminar,

entitled, "The Fulfillment of Illegal Orders." The organization bemoans the fact that the British Mandatory laws became the "default" laws of the State upon its establishment, instead of Jewish Law. It tracks progress in this area, however, and notes examples of cases where Jewish Law provides inspiration for state law, or actually becomes the law.

Journalist David Bedein told Arutz-7, "It was fantastic to see 250 people, most of them lawyers and most of them very knowledgeable in Judaism, discussing the definition of an illegal order and concluding with a consensus that one must not adhere to such an order. They brought many examples from our sources, such as King Saul's order to kill the Priests of Nov, where it was clear that an illegal order of this nature must not be carried out."

Among the lecturers were Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubenstein and former IDF Chief Prosecutor Menachem Finkelstein. Bedein noted that the speakers refrained from giving specific examples, such as the disengagement/expulsion currently on the public agenda: "They spoke of the general responsibility of a soldier in the field who receives an illegal order. The soldier has the responsibility to decide on his own; he is not just a robot who must fulfill orders, but must rather use his own judgment. This was something that everyone agreed on: the responsibility of the individual to consider the situation and use his own judgment."

There was a consensus among the speakers that according to both modern Israeli law and Jewish law, a law that contradicts Jewish law need not be adhered to, as freedom of religion is guaranteed in both the Declaration of Independence and the Basic Laws. Another point widely made was that a Jewish king is not allowed to give orders to violate the Torah.

One leading lecturer with great military-legal experience reminded the audience that a military order to desecrate the Sabbath for a non-combat purpose is a clearly illegal order that must not be fulfilled. Justice Rubenstein expressed the hope that indictments would not be served, if at all possible, against soldiers who refuse orders based on their religious beliefs. He lamented the fact that most of Israel's judges don't use Jewish Jurisprudence in their rulings, due to lack of knowledge and lack of desire.

INN.com correspondent Ruti Avraham reported that it was noted that though a soldier must fulfill orders, he will not be punished for not doing so if their illegality is "perfectly clear to him." On the other hand, if the order is "blatantly illegal," he is forbidden to carry it out.