The Chief Rabbi of the IDF, Rabbi Rafi Peretz, is in some trouble after video emerged of him dancing with Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, one of the heads of Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in Yitzhar, who wrote a controversial book named Torat Hamelech.

Rabbi Peretz aroused the ire of leftist MKs by not only dancing with the rabbi – whom they see as a dangerous extremist – but doing so while in uniform. To make things worse, the beaming rabbis – who were evidently enjoying the pre-Purim spirit of the month of Adar – traded head coverings at one point, with Peretz donning Shapira's wide brimmed hat and Shapira donning Peretz's military beret.

After the video was shown on Channel 2 television, MK Omer Bar Lev (Labor / Zionist Union) said that "handing over the beret is a grave matter, symbolically.  Brig-Gen Peretz was giving a stamp of approval and symbolic support to a man who subverted the rule of law and certainly cannot be identified with the IDF's values."

Bar-Lev said that the IDF Chief of Staff's bureau informed him that Rabbi Peretz will be summoned to a conversation with the Head of the IDF Personnel Directorate, who will "clarify to him what is expected of an IDF officer."

The IDF said that the Chief Rabbi "had come to celebrate with the family of the groom who had served as an IDF rabbi until recently."

Torat Hamelech (The Torah of the King)deals with Jewish law pertaining to Kings of Israel and the waging of wars, describing, inter alia, the situations in which a Jew is permitted to kill a non-Jew. The book does not contain any explicit references to Arabs or Palestinians.

When the scandal over the book's publication boiled over, Rabbi Shapira was arrested and questioned. However, he was never charged with an offense.

Reviews of the book among Rabbis were mixed, with some such as Rabbi Shlomo Aviner criticizing its publication and taking issue with the accuracy of its content. On the other hand, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon of Elon Moreh defended Rabbi Shapira's right to analyze the issue, saying that the book is not a practical guide, but a theoretical exposition.