The Prime Minister of Turkey responded to the recent slaughter of 9 unarmed Turkish peace activists by Israeli commandos who stormed "Mavi Marmara" aid ship headed for Gaza. He asked a simple question:

"You [Israelis] killed 19-year-old Furkan Dogan brutally. Which faith, which holy book can be an excuse for killing him? ... The sixth commandment says, 'Thou shalt not kill.' Did you not understand? I'll say again. I say in English, 'You shall not kill.' Did you still not understand? So I'll say to you in your own language. I say in Hebrew, 'Lo Tirtzakh."

-- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quoted by Global Research

Alas! It is Mr. Erdogan who does not understand.

The esteemed Rabbis of the Jewish State do have a "holy book" that provides the ethical basis for their actions -- the Babylonian Talmud -- studied and refined for centuries at yeshivas like Mercaz HaRav. Founded by Rabbi Abraham Kook, first Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael and the "great soul of religious Zionism", HaRav Kook taught that "the soul of every Jew possesses rights", unlike others. His school produces Israeli leaders "filled with a deep love for their fellow-Jew", including many who "serve faithfully" in the Israeli Defense Force and the Government.

This reverence for the "Jewish soul" is the central theme of the Talmud which teaches that only Israelites are considered "men" in the eyes of God. All other races are mere beasts, sub-humans that lack this "divine spirit". Clearly, since the commandments of God only apply to "men", they are interpreted by the Talmudic sages and their disciples as follows:

Thou shalt not kill... a fellow Jew
Thou shalt not steal... from a fellow Jew
Thou shalt not lie... to a fellow Jew

Everyone else is fair game, and no Jewish law is broken in the process. After all, the fleecing of a sheep is not "theft" and the killing of a pig is not "murder". Do you understand now, Mr. Erdogan?