In a letter sent by the Chief Rabbi of Israel to the French Jewish family murdered in 2017, he wrote that "anyone who puts his views and opinions into understanding the law is sinning against the truth."
Sarah Halimi and the killer Kovili Traura
Following the decision of the court in France not to prosecute Kovili Traore, who in 2017 murdered the Jewish Sarah Halimi, the Chief Rabbi of Israel, David Lau, sent a letter to her family in which he expressed his condolences to them.
"Like many, I was shocked to hear of the decision of the French High Court not to prosecute the vile killer of Saint Sarah," Lau began his letter.
"A law must be impartial and comprehensive. Whoever puts his views and opinions into understanding the law and uses them to express them, sins against the truth and turns the law into a family, and the place of justice into the place of evil."
"Our doctrine - the doctrine of life, and sages knew how to see the consequences of these situations by saying 'all mercy on the cruel ends up being cruel to the merciful'.
A true judge must demonstrate attacks on evil out of pity for the victim, "the chief rabbi added.
"I am with you in your feelings and shout the cry of Sarah. I call on those responsible for this decision to reconsider his decision and prosecute the killer. Twice Sarah was murdered - once by the criminal and a second time by the person who acquitted him of his crimes," he added.
Halimi's family members were moved by Lau's letter, saying they hoped it would help further their struggle to prosecute the killer.
As you may recall, Traore entered Halimi's apartment in Paris on April 4, 2017. He threw her out of the third-floor window while shouting "Allah Akbar."
In December 2019, the French Court of Appeals accepted the opinion of expert psychiatrists that the killer was not responsible for his actions because he smoked marijuana - and cleared Traura of guilt.
He was released after the state Supreme Court upheld the ruling.
French President Emmanuel Macron last week referred to the case, saying he would work to change the law: "Deciding to use drugs as a means of protection and then claiming insanity, in my view should not clear criminal liability," he said in an interview with La Figaro.
"I will ask the Minister of Justice to submit an amendment to the law as soon as possible."
