On November 8, 1995, a few days after the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin, the National Religious Party and Meimad sponsored a conference of leaders of branches of the religious Zionist camp. After the opening speeches of MK Zevulun Hammer of the NRP, Yisrael Harel of Moetzet Yesh'a, Rav Haim Druckman of Yeshivot B'nai Akiva, and Rav Yehuda Amital of Meimad, speakers from the audience addressed the assembly. What follows are selections from what was said by Rav Yoel Bin Nun of Ofra.

R' Yoel Bin Nun Speech

I've been asked to speak out about some things that have been said by rabbis and heads of yeshivot--things that never should have been said. But I don't want to talk about what has already happened, I want to talk about what might be in the future. If, God forbid, there is another political murder in the State of Israel, I don't know that we will be able to survive it, that we will be able to continue.

At this very moment, as we sit here, there are those who are still referring to the halacha of the persuerm (rodef) as being applicable to certain people. I agree completely with everything that has been said tonight about how wonderful the religious community is, and how wonderful our educational system is, and how the government must act responsibly to end the incitement against us. However, all of this depends on one thing: that anyone who uses the term of rodef and rules that the halachic category of rodef is applicable today--and I know that there are those who have done exactly that within the last six months--must come forward by the end of the shiva and resign all their rabbinical positions! I am delivering an ultimatum! After the shiva, I will begin to fight against them before the whole nation!

Gentlemen, I fought in the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. As a resident of Ofra I have lived through the intifada. I've risked my life before, and I've already received threats from these evil people. I am willing to fight them even if I may die.

There are respected authorities in our camp who still speak about rodef regarding Shimon Peres, and their only problem is that it has not yet been successfully carried out! We can't be afraid of them. Since Saturday night I am no longer armed. I know what I'm talking about. I'm telling you that we must stand up as one, together with heads of yeshivot, and demand that these people resign from every Torah position they presently hold! And if they refuse, we must see that they be denounced and cut off from us. After the shiva, I intend to make them known. None of you should try to protect them. Don't try to cover for them, Chanan [M.K. Chanan Porat]! You have to drive them out!

Don't talk to me about "wild weeds"! I am not a child. I know what I am talking about. I am referring to halachic authorities. Without such authorities, young people don't act as they have.

Regarding the theoretical question of halacha in the state, I agree with Rav Druckman (that the halacha should govern all areas, [including politics]). However, there is not one Rabbi who knows how to determine the halachot of the State because there is no Shulchan Aruch [Code of Law], there is no tradition of how a Jewish state functions. It is not like the laws of Shabbat, Kashrut, or family purity where we can refer to a tradition and to precedents. Someone who is called "rabbi" after learning shabbat or kashrut and then attempts to rule on issues of government, is like a dentist who performs brain surgery because he's called "Dr.".

Hundreds of years will pass before there will be a shulchan aruch for issues of state. Religious members of the Knesset are more qualified to deal with these issues than rabbis. What most rabbis say is no more than conjecture. There are at most twenty or thirty real experts around. Therefore in practice, I agree with Rav Amital (that halachic considerations should not be brought into political decisions) because rabbis speak with rabbinical authority about matters in which they have no expertise, even though in principle I agree with Rabbi Druckman that the halacha applies to all walks of life.

Rabbi Herzog who was the Chief Rabbi at the formation of the State said that we should establish a state with equal rights for the Arabs. He knew that the establishment of the state depended on doing so. And we held elections and recognized them as legitimate. So what is this nonsense about this not being a "shilton yisrael" ["government of Israel"] because there are Arabs voting in the Knesset?!! You are distorting very important principles! True, my teacher R' Zvi Yehuda [Kook] ruled against Rav Herzog. So who should be the final authority?

All over the land we hear talk of how democracy and halacha contradict each other. The Netziv of Volozhin said exactly the opposite! Who gave you the authority to decide? We have a fundamental problem determining Torah authority today. Sunday and Monday, after the murder, I heard some yeshiva boys struggling to make up their minds. They heard about the law of rodef and they just didn't know what to think. They we waiting to hear one of their rabbis tell them what to think. Not all the boys; but there were some. This is the problem. And don't talk to me about "wild weeds". From the time of the Jewish underground until this day, we are witness to a chain of abominable actions that have all had some kind of "rabbi's" sanction! And some serious things have been said about rodef. There is no such thing as the law of rodef in a state! It's a lie! King David canceled the ruling in the case of Avner and Yoav, as the gemara tells us, because it was a legitimate government. There is no more law of rodef. In political situations, there is no law of rodef. And I'm still not sure that, sometime in the past few months, there wasn't someone who sat and pronounced judgment in a case where one found guilty is to be put to death.