Zalman Baruch Melamed - Biography

Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed is the rosh yeshiva of the Beit El yeshiva in Beit El, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

On halachic grounds, he opposes the idea of either Jews or gentiles going on the Temple Mount.

Background

Melamed was born in Tel Aviv in ?1952?. In ?1954? he began to study at Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva under Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook. He studied at Mercaz Harav Yeshiva for about a decade, teaching there as well. In 1978 he founded a yeshiva in Beit El.

Views on Israeli citizenship

Rabbi Melamed has stated that "There must be legislation allowing Jewish people everywhere in the world to become Israeli citizens, even if they do not live here." Melamed viewed this as a way to shore up Israel's Jewish demographic in elections. At the same time, he advocated that some Arab citizens of Israel should be stripped of their civil rights: "Even those with a democratic viewpoint understand that we must limit the rights of those who wish to harm the State. There are many non-Jews in Israel who are striving to undermine the country." According to Melamed, "These people should not be able to vote who sits in the Knesset or determine who leads the country. The law must dictate that the subversive cannot be citizens."

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