Israel settlements: rabbis say soldiers' loyalty to God trumps army orders

[ProgressiveMuslim]

In an escalating standoff over potential Israel settlement evacuations, dozens of teachers in government-affiliated religious seminaries signed a declaration on Thursday that could reverse long-time support for the secular state.


By Joshua Mitnick Correspondent / December 18, 2009
Tel Aviv, Israel

In Israel, a standoff is escalating between the Israeli defense establishment and religious nationalists over the possible evacuation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. On Thursday, a group of rabbis published a letter saying a soldiers' loyalty to the divine takes precedence over their commanders.

The declaration was signed by dozens of teachers in government-affiliated religious seminaries – known as "hesder'' yeshivas – after Defense Minister Ehud Barak took the unprecedented step earlier this week of cutting ties with a hesder yeshiva because its dean, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, openly advocates refusing of orders in case of an evacuation.

One of the signatories, hesder yeshiva Rabbi Ariel Bareli, told Israel Radio that faith trumps implementing democratic adopted government policy in the event of a clash.

"You must understand, that the desire of the nation isn't meaningful for someone who believes in the creator,'' he said.
Split allegiance of Israel's religious nationalists

As pressure increases on the government to curtail and eventually remove many West Bank settlements, the dispute highlights the growing political and spiritual dilemma of a split allegiance on the part of religious nationalists, the spearhead of the settlement movement.

Though they have always hewed to a strict interpretation of Jewish religious law, the national religious rabbis taught loyalty to Israel's secular state because it is considered a precursor of religious redemption.

The hesder yeshiva system harnessed that loyalty by allowing nationalist religious youths to split time between spiritual study and military service. The system has become an important channel for funneling highly motivated soldiers into the military.
'Sensitive moment': Rare contradiction between state policy, Jewish law

But that loyalty to the secular state is being tested by the likelihood that religious soldiers might be forced to violate what they consider a divine prohibition against ceding parts of the biblical land of Israel.

"For decades the national religious never saw a contradiction between the policy of the state and the halacha . The were identical,'' says Yair Ettinger, a reporter for the Haaretz newspaper who covered Israel's evacuation of Gaza settlements in 2005. "It's become much harder for the rabbis to square between the state and the . This is a very sensitive moment.''

read on...
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2009/1218/Israel-settlements-rabbis-say-soldiers-loyalty-to-God-trumps-army-orders

[fascisthunter]

1. I don't like religion dictating anything

the removal of settlements is just and universally accepted as moral.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. If the Israeli government defers, the country is a de facto theocracy.

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Those who are fond of throwing round the *anti-Israel* label are very absent from this thread...

See, these religious wackjobs are definately not supporters of Israel, but I'm wondering if they'll get a pass from some in this forum due to them being enemies of the Palestinian peoples right to self-determination...

[Ken Burch]

4. This would mean the settlers are now militant ANTIZIONISTS

And should be treated just as Hamas supporters are treated by the IDF.

The point of the true and original Zionist movement was to create a SECULAR, democratic Jewish state.

[LeftishBrit]

8. I essentially agree with you; the RW settlers are disloyal and dangerous to Israel

It looks as though the government may start to crack down (see Starfarer Bill's posted thread here), but they have been allowed to get quite out of hand.

[azurnoir]

9. What you call the true Zionist movement ceased to exist

almost from the moment Israel became a state and allowed the Rabbinical council to dictate parts of it's law as to Israel's government ever treating settlers in the same manner as followers of Hamas are treated that will never happen because IMO at this point in time there is a risk of some IDF units refusing to carry out the orders

[MisterP]

5. sounds a lot like the atmosphere in 1973 Chile, except Israel has no socialist

government, and Chile didn't have such a religious dimension

it's ultranationalism worked up to the extent that they want to overthrow a government perceived as "betraying" the country, like in Guatemala 1954

years of nationalist hijacking of Judaism (not vice-versa) lead to a hijacking of Israel by fundamentalist Jews; this attitude wouldn't exist without Israel's decades of war footing

and while many settlers are fundamentalist ultranationalists, remember that it was the secular moderates who incinerated a couple thousand to the north and to the south, in the name of fighting those radical Islamists

[proteus_lives]

6. What do Imams tell suicide bombers or Hamas fighters?

[Sezu]

7. Oh well that's different.

They aren't Israelis. That's how the Israel haters operate.

ptui!

[Violet_Crumble]

11. No-one here's said anything remotely like that...

And seeing as how you appear to think that anyone who criticises Israel or who speaks out against yr hatred of Arabs and Muslims is a 'Israel hater', one would think they would have appeared by now with the dribble you trotted out...

[Violet_Crumble]

10. Not the same stuff as the Rabbis are....

They're not living in a secular democracy and not telling people to disobey its laws like the Israeli rabbis are...