Nope. And, in contrast to extensive coverage of Islamic fundamentalism, there is absolutely no coverage of Jewish fundamentalism that has such a powerful grip on Israeli society.
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Professor Israel Shahak wrote the following about this subject on 8 April 1994 in the newspaper Davar: "After the revelation of the murderous attacks of the Jewish underground no attempt was made to understand the Halachic roots of these acts. In my opinion these are the main reason why the murderer Goldstein was able to execute his plan and gain the sympathy and the understanding of such wide circles. I hope that for the public, which does not want us to reach a situation similar to that in Khomeni's Iran, the one-time experience in ignoring fundamental problems will be enough and that it will use the dreadful assassination to clarify its ideological roots.
"Let us begin with the fact that the Halacha generally forbids a Jew - even if he is a doctor - to save the life of a goyim. Accordingly, the Rambam states: 'But non-Jews that are not at war with us, and herdsman and similar people, those we do not save from death and it is forbidden to rescue them if they are in deadly peril. For example, if one sees one of them falling into the sea then we will not pull him up because it is said: 'One does not stand inactive by the blood of one's neighbor, i.e., this is not one's neighbor'' (Halacha on the murder and the protection of the soul, 4.11) … At one place Rambam adds to this law: 'From this you learn that it is forbidden to heal non-Jews even for payment; if one is afraid of a [non-Jew] or is suspected of hostility, then he heals for payment - to heal free of charge, however, is forbidden' (Halacha on idolatry, 10.2).
"If a religious Jew had prevented Goldstein from killing non-Jews he had been driven only - according to the Halacha - by concerns regarding whether this killing was 'for the good of the Jews' or 'for the good of the Jewish settlements', as we indeed hear from certain religious spokesmen. The basic rule that the life of a non-Jew from the point of view of the Halacha is without any value is even clearer in a topic dealt with in great detail in the Halacha, namely the problem of the desecration of the Sabbath in the case of treating a sick goyim. If a Jew is concerned then the law concerning the 'salvation from mortal danger' applies, which invalidates the Sabbath Law. According to the Halacha (and Kabbala) non-Jews have no soul and therefore the Halacha determines that a Jew, including a Jewish doctor, would not want to desecrate the Sabbath in order to rescue or treat a goyim, unless it is a matter of the above-mentioned 'salvation from mortal danger' or perceived 'hostility', i.e., of the fear of a potential danger to Jews….
"Without doubt these are the religious laws, which most of the national-religious follow in practice and all Orthodox in theory, and it is upon these that they base their standpoint regarding the killing of Arabs by Jews, as was the case with the 'Jewish underground'. There is also no doubt that these laws not only influence the entire religious public but also all those secular circles that have not completely liberated themselves from religion, especially as their behavior vis-à-vis non-Jews is concerned."
Since the latent racism of Jewish Israelis is nurtured by the fact that they are 'the Chosen People', as laid down in the religion, Israel Shahak stresses the following: "Although the struggle against anti-Semitism (and of all other forms of racism) should never cease, the struggle against Jewish chauvinism and exclusivism, which must include a critique of classical Judaism, is now of equal or even greater importance."
Rabbi David Hartman pointed indirectly to this problem when he wrote in the Jewish Week the following: "I think that if we look at all this as something strange to us, as some sort of an accident, then we cannot really be very aware of ourselves. This was not an accident. It is unambiguously something that grows in this country (Israel), something that arises from our tradition… There is no doubt whatsoever that there are things in the Jewish religion that can generate such a racist understanding…. What Goldstein did reminds me how dangerous it is to fail to contradict the speeches pertaining to Amalec. Goldstein has challenged me to recognize the sort of crime one can commit against humanity and morality under the pretext that there is only one value, which excludes everything else, namely the land (Israel), and that sovereignty over the whole land is the ultimate goal... This is by no means only crazy decoration. This is a sick component that is able to infiltrate the Jewish self-perception."
It was due to such religious reasons that Goldstein always refused to treat non-Jews. According to the Yediot Aharonot of 1 March 1994 he told the High Military Rabbi Gad Navon the following: "As a doctor I am not ready to treat anyone who is not a Jew. I only recognize the Rambam and Kahane." Shahak explains: "In fact, the Halacha instructs Jews to behave exactly like this. If there is a risk that the authorities will be notified about the refusal of a pious Jewish doctor to treat non-Jews then he is allowed to treat them but only in order to spare himself or other Jews any trouble. There is good reason to assume that whenever pious doctors - and Goldstein was such a pious doctor - are forced, due to certain circumstances, to 'treat' Arabs, they will in fact not try to heal them. Even if they are not explicitly wishing for the death of a patient, they will do nothing effective to improve their condition."
It is only logical that Rabbi Dov Lior from Kiryat Arab calls a mass murderer a 'righteous man': "Since Goldstein did what he did in the name of God, he must be viewed as a 'righteous man'." Goldstein was afforded a pompous funeral with a funeral procession in Jerusalem and the burial in Kiryat Arab. Miriam Goldstein, who is a Kach activist, became a heroine overnight and will never have to worry about how she or her four children will live. She has not expressed any word of regret but rather demanded the punishment of her husband's murderers. The religious world of delusion in which the inhabitants of Kiryat Arba live is clearly reflected in the following notes in the diary of June Leavitt: "Baruch Goldstein has changed the consciousness of all of us… (He) confronts each one of us anew with the principle of 'martyrdom'…. (He) has acted like the Jews in the Bible… If it is our basis then Baruch's behavior was in conformity." In Hebron several zealots warned other Jews not to abandon the city of the Patriarchs because this would be a 'perversion of Zionist ideals'.
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