In an article titled “Unjust War” that was published in the Hebrew-language religious news site, Srugim, on Wednesday, Rabbi Uri Cherki made a surprising statement:

“We do not sacrifice human life on the altar of eliminating the leadership of Hamas, in order to transfer the land of Gaza to the haters of Israel,” Rabbi Cherki said.

This comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a congressional hearing, “At some point, what would make the most sense would be for an effective and revitalized Palestinian Authority to have governance and ultimately security responsibility for Gaza.”

Rabbi Cherki wrote that if Israel does not intend to resettle Gaza, then there is no justification for our soldiers to die in the war there.

“There is no justification for risking our soldiers if the goal is to hand over Gaza to the criminals of the Palestinian Authority,” said Rabbi Cherki. “The blood of Israeli boys should not be spilled, if they do not return to control the Gaza Strip, if no Jews settle there. We do not sacrifice human lives on the altar of eliminating the Hamas leadership, in order to transfer the land of Gaza to the haters of Israel.”

“Only the loss of territory will be considered a loss by our enemies,” Rabbi Cherki said. “Only a return to our land will raise our stature. Please, the leaders of the country must wake up and stop shedding the blood of the young men of Israel. They must work to eliminate Gaza without entering the alleys [and endangering themselves]. Courage and bravery; This is what we must arm ourselves with at this time”

Gush Katif, a bloc of 17 Israeli settlements of some 10,000 Jews in the southern Gaza strip, was dismantled and the Jews evicted, in 2005. Their communities were demolished as part of Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip.