Hareidi soldiers (illustrative)
Hareidi soldiers (illustrative)Flash90

Extremist anti-Israel sect Neturei Karta has launched a fierce attack against hareidi IDF soldiers in honor of Hannukah.

This time, posters distributed throughout hareidi neighborhoods in Jerusalem present the soldiers as the "Hellenists of our generation" - the enemy in the traditional Hannukah story who attempted to sway that period's Jews from their Judaism.

The graphic sign features a cartoon depicting a hareidi soldier with his face distorted into a pig's and sitting on the back of an elephant as the troops of Antiochus (Alexander the Great - villain of Hannukah story - ed.) march chasing hareidi children.

At the top of the sign, is a group of haredi soldiers chanting. "Torah is not kosher, no no, we do not have tzniut (modesty), no no, that licentiousness is our company and the sword is our pride, it is our hope to help our government campaign to introduce Hellenism to our generation, and we have no part in the God of our fathers."

"Who are Hellenists at this time?" the caption in the center reads. "Every child knows: these hardakim (pejorative term combining word for 'vermin' and hareidi - ed.).  

At the bottom of the sign is a caption in the spirit of the "Al HaNissim" traditional blessing for Hannukah on miracles.

"When the conviction was given on your people Israel to forget Your Torah and break Your Laws and Your Will [. . .] within a fence around fences is a garden of roses."

The phrase "fence around fences," a term in Jewish law for additional stringencies and oftentimes practical laws placed to prevent the Jewish people from breaking fundamental principles (e.g. Shabbat) over centuries of changes in Jewish law, is meant to symbolize the hareidi community's struggle to keep separate from "bad influences." 

Ironically, the Chofetz Chaim - the Rabbi known for his works on improper speech and slander - is featured on one corner of the poster. It is important to note that the Chofetz Chaim particularly condemned poor speech about a particular religious or social group within Judaism.

Posters inciting hatred against hareidi IDF soldiers have become common in hareidi neighborhoods in Jerusalem and elsewhere over the past year.  

In recent months, the IDF has confirmed that officers and soldiers living in hareidi neighborhoods - many of them themselves hareidi - have been subject to physical and verbal abuse

Recently, Arutz Sheva exposed a particularly shocking and similar campaign in which hareidi soldiers were literally portrayed as pigs just a month or so after dozens gave their lives in Operation Protective Edge.

The offensive cartoon was even gleefully shared by Hamas.