Question

Hello Rabbi, as is well known, the Rabbi always says and repeats from every possible platform that there is no problem with raising any opinion whatsoever, however extreme it may be; one should not silence it or be afraid of it, but rather discuss the claim on its merits. And here we have a challenge. Today the media reported about a question that was brought by someone to Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef regarding his intention to kill the Attorney General if he were to receive permission from three leading rabbis of the generation, and he wrote: forbidden, forbidden, forbidden, and even urgently passed the matter on to the authorities. On the one hand, unlike the Rabbi, I have great respect and unreserved admiration for Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef (perhaps I am a bit unusual in the Ashkenazi Lithuanian landscape, but truth is dearer to me than anything), and I never cast doubt on a halakhic ruling that comes from a person of such stature. But I cannot help wondering out loud: does anyone, for example, believe the rabbi of the Jews in Iran when he says or writes what he says or writes, that this is the Torah view? Clearly that is an opinion coerced by fear. And in our case, it is clear to all of us that even if according to the Torah it is permitted to kill her, at least under the law of “they are brought down but not raised up,” or under the law of a pursuer, as in the questioner’s understanding, since we are restricted in a state that has its own laws, whoever incites to this or wants to carry it out will receive a prison sentence, and there is no obligation from the Torah, even if it is permitted, to fulfill a commandment at such a price. If so, when Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef wrote that it is forbidden, from which Torah did he derive this? It does not seem that he meant what I am saying, that since it carries a punishment he is harming himself, and that itself is the prohibition. Secondly, even according to the law there is a significant obstacle here, since the fellow declared that if he does not receive permission he will not carry it out. So there is no actual intention here to do it, because it is quite clear that he would not receive such permission from a sane rabbi. And my question to the Rabbi, after clearing away the background noise and the emotions, is: according to the Haredi worldview (not yours, Rabbi), according to Jewish law, were it not for fear of the government, is there permission? And perhaps even a commandment? Or is it forbidden to kill her? If so, please explain, so that I can distinguish whether your answer comes from your worldview, according to which there is an obligation to enlist, or from the classic Torah-Haredi worldview, which is also the worldview of the master, the Rishon LeZion—that this is religious persecution, and if so there is a great commandment to save even an individual, all the more so an entire public, from our pursuers.