A top Israeli rabbi has condemned a controversial ruling forbidding renting or selling property to non-Jews.

That ruling, which won the support of three dozen rabbis this week, has drawn vocal criticism in Israel. Israel's attorney general is weighing possible charges against the rabbis.

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv _ considered the top rabbinic authority for many ultra-Orthodox Jews _ weighed in against those rabbis on Thursday.

Israel's Channel 2 TV, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily and other media on Friday cited Elyashiv as saying the rabbis who supported the ruling should "have their pens taken away."

The ultra-Orthodox website Behadrei Haredim says Elyashiv's opinion has prompted several rabbis who signed the edict this week to remove their signatures.