What Jewish Law Says About Enriching From Murder
Jewish law is unequivocal: profiting from murder is prohibited.
The Talmud (Avodah Zarah 62b, Pesachim 21b) establishes the principle called איסור הנאה (issur hana’ah), namely, you are not allowed to benefit from an act of sin.
The Shulchan Arukh rules that benefitting from stolen property is tantamount to being a partner in the crime (Choshen Mishpat 356:1), and the Rambam forbids any act that aids evildoers, directly or indirectly (Sefer Ha’mitzvot, Mitzvah 205). The prohibition reaches its most severe when the profit is from spilling blood.
The prophets called such ill-gotten gains בֶּצַע (betsa). As if foreseeing what will happen centuries later, Jeremiah issued a searing condemnation of a society that enriched itself from the slaughter of innocents:
“כִּי אֵין עֵינֶיךָ וְלִבְּךָ כִּי אִם – עַל בִּצְעֶךָ, וְעַל דַּם הַנָּקִי לִשְׁפּוֹךְ, וְעַל הָעֹשֶׁק, וְעַל הַמְּרוּצָה לַעֲשׂוֹת”.
“But your eyes and your mind are only on ill-gotten gains, on shedding the blood of the innocents, on committing fraud and violence.” (Jeremiah 22:17)
Fast forward to today: According to a recent United Nations report, American and Israeli companies are raking in profits from the mass killing of civilians, and the destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, and farmland in Gaza. It names companies supplying F-35s, drones, and targeting tech that enabled 85,000 tons of bombs – six times the amount of Hiroshima – to be unleashed on Gaza. It singles out the tech giants that have set up R&D hubs and data centers in Israel, using Palestinian data for AI warfare. The methodical report names the software and AI makers that are growing rich on technology used for surveilling and committing mass assassinations. These are not bystanders. They are beneficiaries of genocide.
When the UN Special Rapporteur calls on all nations –
“to impose a full arms embargo, suspend trade and investment agreements, and hold corporate entities accountable for violations of international law”
– it is precisely what Jewish law demands.
To profit from what Amnesty International, B’Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel, and other credible human rights organizations have called an ongoing genocide is an egregious violation of halacha.
