The principle of protecting children is often highlighted in discussions about the laws of war, where there are specific prohibitions against targeting or involving children in hostilities.
However, Israelis have heard rabbis point out be better to kill the Arab children before they become adult warriors.
Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, the head of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, for one, co-authored a book titled "Torat HaMelech" (The King's Torah) in 2009. In this book, he and Rabbi Yosef Elitzur argue that it is permissible under certain circumstances to kill non-Jews, including children, if they pose a threat to Israel or Jews. The book suggests that even innocent children of the enemy may be killed to prevent them from growing up to become threats in the future.
The book and its ideas were met with significant controversy and condemnation, both within Israel and internationally, as many saw it as incitement to violence and a justification for acts that would constitute war crimes. Rabbi Shapira's views are considered extreme, and they do not represent mainstream Jewish thought or the opinions of most rabbis...
...however, the influence of the Torah, often referred to as the Law of Moses, as the foundational text of Judaism cannot be denied, especially on attitudes regarding the daily death toll of children from the bombing of civilian structures throughout Gaza.
... and the Holy Hebrew Torah (first five books of the Bible) SEEMS TO BE IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION TO The BASIC PRINCIPAL OF THE SANCTITY OF THE LIVES OF CHILDREN
but let the reader judge for his/herself
Firstly, in the Book of Genesis, specifically in Genesis 15:18-21, God describes the boundaries of the land He is giving to the descendants of Abraham. This land is often referred to as the Promised Land and as being the land of other peoples at the time. Here is the passage:
"On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, 'To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.'"
The boundaries mentioned here are generally understood to extend from the Nile River (referred to as the "river of Egypt") to the Euphrates River. This region encompasses a vast area that includes parts of modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.
Secondly, The fourth book of the Torah or Bible, Deuteronomy 20:16--18 reads:
"Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. But you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has commanded you --15 "And Moses said to them, 17 "Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. 18 "But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves."
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