Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo, also Sholom Ber Wolpe, (, born 1948) is a rabbi and an Israeli political activist. Wolpo is the author of more than forty books.
He has become associated in recent years with right-wing political causes, and has set up a campaign group—SOS Israel—an organization that runs press and billboard campaigns promoting the belief that surrender of parts of the Land of Israel is prohibited by halacha. Later, in 2008, Wolpo established an additional group opposing land concessions, Our Land of Israel.
He also has called for an independent country called the State of Judea be established in the West Bank. According to J. J. Goldberg, he has raised funds to assist families of Jewish terrorists and called for courts to pass a sentence with a death penalty on a number of Israeli politicians such as Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barak, and Tzipi Livni.
Chabad messianism
Wolpo is one of the leaders of the group of Chabad Chasidim believing that the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, is the messiah. He was one of the first to openly describe as the messiah. In 1984, he wrote a book proclaiming Schneerson as the Moshiach. However, after Schneerson said in a public address that "such a book can cause hundreds of Jews to stop learning Chassidus, and oppose the Baal Shem Tov and his teachings", he did not publish the book. It was later published in 1991 with Schneerson's approval.
Politics
In January 2006, amid the Gaza disengagement, he wrote a letter to Olmert warning him that if he ever gave up even a "tiny parcel" of the Land of Israel, he would suffer from a bitter fate. The letter noted that Rabbi Schneerson had warned that he would personally fight with all his powers against any Prime Minister who gave up Israeli territory or backpedaled over settlements. He told the press that Ariel Sharon had brought about a "new holocaust" with the Gaza disengagement, and that he had gladly "collaborated with the Nazis of today". He ruled that assisting in the evacuation of the Gaza settlement was as bad as violating the Jewish Sabbath. He called for Olmert to be "brought to trial and punished".
Following the disengagement, he published a book entitled "Between Light and Dark", in which he shows that Rabbi Schneerson was right about rejecting Zionism and the claim of religious Zionists that the founding of the State is the "beginning of the redemption".
SOS Israel
He is the founder of the organization Ha'Matteh L'Hatzolat Ha'Am V'Ha'Aretz—SOS Israel—a militant Israeli Jewish political movement opposed to any agreement leading to land concessions to the Palestinians.
Another campaign run by his organization, under the slogan "There is Judgement, and there is a Judge" (referring to God), has generated considerable controversy in the Israeli press in March 2007. One radio host, Natan Zahavi, denounced Wolpo on the radio in obscene terms, and the Israeli Broadcasting Authority is currently investigating.
He has recently released a film under the SOS Israel name entitled "There is judgement, and there is a judge", which shows how all the political leaders that had a hand in the Gaza disengagement have suffered as a result - for example, Sharon suffered a stroke; former Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and Police Chief Moshe Karadi were forced to resign; President Moshe Katsav, former Minister Chaim Ramon, and MK Tzachi Hanegbi have been involved in criminal affairs; and Yonatan Bassi, head of the Disengagement Administration, had to leave his kibbutz after being accused of collaborating in driving settlers out of their homes. The film maintains that this is God's retribution. The film includes footage of Rabbi Schneerson declaring that making territorial concessions to the Arabs will lead to disaster and telling Katzav that "it would lead to the opposite of peace". Maariv reports that two million copies of the film are to be distributed, and the film is to be made available for download online.
Recent activities
New political party
On 11 November 2008, Wolpo founded a new party, Eretz Yisrael Shelanu. The party allied itself with the Jewish National Front, and ran in the 2009 Knesset elections as part of the National Union alliance. Eretz Yisrael Shelanu took one of the party's four seats, taken by Michael Ben-Ari.
Textbooks
In a Halachic ruling, Wolpo ruled that it was forbidden to teach children from Israeli education ministry-approved textbooks that show maps of Israel with Green Line marked, as this was an attack on West Bank settlers. He told Maariv that Israeli education minister Yuli Tamir should "recall what happened to Ariel Sharon" before she attacked the settlement movement.