An NGO monitoring West Bank construction said Avraham Zarbiv's home sits on Palestinian land and has been under a demolition order since 2000; the rabbi also boasted of destroying homes in Gaza and called to 'flatten' it during his IDF service
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An NGO monitoring West Bank construction said Avraham Zarbiv's home sits on Palestinian land and has been under a demolition order since 2000; the rabbi also boasted of destroying homes in Gaza and called to 'flatten' it during his IDF service
07:35 PM • April 17 2026 IDT
The home of Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, who was chosen to light an Independence Day torch, was built illegally on private land in the Beit El settlement. Zarbiv works as a judge in the rabbinical court of the West Bank settlement of Ariel.
On Tuesday, a complaint was filed against him to Asher Kula, the judicial watchdog. According to Kerem Navot, the organization that filed the complaint, Zarbiv violated the ethics rules for both judges and rabbinic judges. The organization argued that the rabbi's home was erected on private Palestinian land and has been slated for demolition since 2000.
The complaint further states that the house was built outside the settlement's jurisdiction and contrary to its master plan. According to the organization, it stands on land owned by residents of the nearby Dura al-Qara village.
Aerial photographs of the rabbinic judge's home, appended to the complaint, indicate that between 2021 and 2023, the area of the house's yard was significantly expanded northward, annexing an additional 400 square meters of privately owned land.
The complaint states that illegal construction, alongside increasing encroachment on land owned by others, "are actions that are inconsistent with the letter of the law, and certainly not with the conduct expected of a rabbinic judge." They explained that Zarbiv's actions are serious and pertain to integrity, theft from individuals, and contempt for law enforcement systems.
Back in February, Kula received a complaint against Zarbiv due to his extreme statements about the need "to flatten the Strip." He determined that Zarbiv violated the ethics rules by expressing his worldview on issues of public controversy. The commissioner determined that Zarbiv's statements were not appropriate for his status as a rabbinic judge.
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"With all due respect to the rabbinic judge's lengthy military service and significant contribution during the war," Kula wrote in his decision, "a soldier's uniform does not shed the rabbinic judge's robe, and the ethical obligations applicable to him continue to apply even during his military service."
Zarbiv served hundreds of days in reserve duty during the Gaza war as an armored D9 bulldozer driver. He became known for his determination to destroy as many homes in Gaza as possible. In interviews with right-wing media outlets, Zarbiv boasted about the widespread destruction in Gaza and made anti-Palestinian statements.
In December 2023, a photograph of him was published in a house in the Gaza Strip, with the inscription behind him: "Khan Yunis Rabbinical Court."
Rabbi Zarbiv did not respond to Haaretz's requests for comment.
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