Avraham Shapira | Rabbi, Zionist leader, 94

Rabbi Avraham Shapira, 94, a spiritual leader of Israel's religious Zionist movement, has died in Jerusalem after a long illness.

Mr. Shapira, a chief rabbi in Israel for 10 years beginning in 1983, died Thursday after being hospitalized earlier in the week, his family said.

The rabbi of the movement that forms the backbone of Israel's settlement enterprise was most known in Israel for his call on observant soldiers in 2005 to disobey orders to dismantle 21 Jewish settlements during Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip that year.

Many Orthodox Jews oppose any withdrawal from the West Bank or Gaza, considering them part of the God-given Land of Israel. Mr. Shapira's call helped foster widespread fervent opposition to the pullout and fears of clashes between settlers with their backers and the security forces.

He also opposed the first Israeli-Palestinian peace accords in 1993, saying Jewish law forbade Israel from transferring holy land to the Palestinians.

Mr. Shapira was a top adjudicator on the Torah and a leader of his movement's Mercaz Harav religious seminary in Jerusalem. - AP