Religious groups are ‘penetrating’ Israeli army

[scarletwoman]

Religious groups are ‘penetrating’ Israeli army

Jonathan Cook, Foreign Correspondent
* Last Updated: February 04. 2009 9:30AM UAE / February 4. 2009 5:30AM GMT

NAZARETH // Extremist rabbis and their followers, bent on waging holy war against the Palestinians, are taking over the Israeli army by stealth, according to critics.

In a process one military historian has termed the rapid “theologisation” of the Israeli army, there are now entire units of religious combat soldiers, many of them based in West Bank settlements. They answer to hardline rabbis who call for the establishment of a Greater Israel that includes the occupied Palestinian territories.

<snip>

The greater role of extremist religious groups in the army came to light last week when it emerged that the army rabbinate had handed out a booklet to soldiers preparing for the recent 22-day Gaza offensive.

Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group, said the material contained messages “bordering on racist incitement against the Palestinian people” and might have encouraged soldiers to ignore international law.

(much more at link, please read the entire article)

sw

[lapfog_1]

1. Just following our example. - n/t

[ensho]

4. true, our military was religiously highjacked

nt

[bunnies]

2. wow.

That article in incredibly eye-opening. Im blown away by the fact that the Army is actually encouraging this trend. Whats the end-goal here? An army of religious terrorists?

Certainly explains the horrific human rights violations against the people of Gaza. Bookmarked.

[Howardx]

3. just a few bad apples......

not representative of the israeli public... bzzt....very fringe....klank...bzzt

[Mosby]

5. He lost me with the first sentence

There is no concept in any stream of Judaism that talks about "waging a holy war". His use of Jihadist language to describe the behavior of religious Zionists undermines whatever credibility he has and demonstrates a very poor understanding of the religious/revisionist Zionist movements.

[bunnies]

6. You should have read the article.

Whether Judaism contains a holy war concept or not is beside the point. The language is used in the information being distributed to soldiers.

From the article:

The booklet quotes extensively from Shlomo Aviner, a far-right rabbi who heads a religious seminary in the Muslim quarter of East Jerusalem. He compares the Palestinians to the Philistines, the Biblical enemy of the Jews.

He advises: “When you show mercy to a cruel enemy, you are being cruel to pure and honest soldiers … This is a war on murderers.” He also cites a Biblical ban on “surrendering a single millimetre” of Greater Israel.

[scarletwoman]

7. Apparently you are easily lost, the phrase "holy war" is generic, it's used by Christian militants,

too -- who refer to themselves as "Holy Warriors". The Christian Crusades have been characterized as a "holy war" in countless references. Any religiously motivated warfare can accurately be termed a holy war.

It's not a singularly Islamic term, it's just a loose translation of the Arabic word "jihad" which actually has a much more complex many-layered meaning than just the simple English idiom of "holy war".

sw

[Mosby]

8. You didn't notice the phrasing?

He didn't say waging 'a' holy war, he said waging holy war, which is a clear reference to Jihad.

[scarletwoman]

9. Whatever. I know this tactic. Nitpick the semantics and avoid the actual information and issues

involved. I'm not playing.

[oberliner]

13. "Is Israel's Army Waging a Jewish Jihad?" is the article's title on "antiwar.com"

I wonder if Cook is aware of that or if indeed he approved that title. He is a regular contributor there.

As the the content itself, the article is magnifying a small issue to make it appear to be a big issue which suits the agenda of the author (present Israel in a negative light).

Islamophobic folks do the same thing all the time in regard to the Arab world.

[azurnoir]

10. For this group Gaza was most likely a side bar

so to speak I think their real aim is as a bulwark against any attempt to evacuate the West Bank settlements to create a situation were that is impossible without a civil war and of course to prevent there from being a Palestinian state ever and they have said as much.
It also seems they have learned from their American counter parts in the religious right here to get their people into key positions in any field situation who's orders do the common soldiers even secular ones follow, those of their commanders which is why the high number ultra religious officers

[Scurrilous]

11. Embrace commandment of war, Hesder students told

<snip>

"A small number of young men soon to be drafted into the IDF from Hesder yeshivot around the country gathered at the Jerusalem Theater on Monday evening to hear speakers from the national-religious camp espouse the virtues of fulfilling "the commandment of war."

The event, the first of its kind, was organized to salute young religious men about to be inducted and attracted just over 100 youths.

IDF Chief Rabbi Brig.-Gen. Avichai Ronsky told the youths it was a privilege to be able to take part "in the commandment of war and the preparations for fulfilling it."

"Embrace this commandment with all your hearts. It is a right previous generations could not realize," Ronsky said.

The IDF chief rabbi said Jewish armies, from the battles between the Israelites and the tribe of Amalek to the present day, had always been manned by virtuous soldiers.

Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau delivered a speech expressing hope that Israel would embark on preemptive wars rather than wait for "the enemy to come here... and see the whites of our eyes."

"King David taught the people of Judah how to use the bow and arrow... Jacob our patriarch blessed his son Judah and told him to fight Israel's enemies, to attack them and not fight defensively... The descendants of the tribe of Judah will do the same," Lau said."

more

[IndianaGreen]

12. The upcoming Jewish civil war... Not something anyone can look forward to.

These radicals had no qualms in killing fellow Jews because they dared to support peace. Google it! Remember the Zealots?

I don't see the IDF following orders to dismantle the settlements in the Jordan Valley if ordered to do so.