MK Shuli Mualem-Rephaeli (Jewish Home) responded to attacks from the Left against the new Chief Rabbi of the IDF, Ayal Karim.
"The aggressive campaign against the Rabbi stems from terrifying ignorance and a deep fear of a "religiozation" that is, in their view, infecting the commanders and soldiers of the IDF," she said.
According to Muallem, the instigators of the campaign are trying to uproot the Jewish character of the IDF; for them, any new appointment of an officer who wears a kippa on his head is "the end of the State."
Muallem emphasized that Karim was chosen to be Chief Army Rabbi because he is a scholar of the highest order, "because he is a brave and valued commander [among those who served with him in his army service], and primarily because of his ability to lead the army rabbinate in a complicated period while maintaining great personal modesty and respect for all."
MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) also expressed support for Rabbi Karim, sending a letter to IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot that praised Rabbi Karim. "The attack against Rabbi Karim [...] is slander of the highest order, a bitter attempt to discredit a good and just man, rabbi and fighter."
"Unqualified support for the Rabbi will send a message to all those who stoke the fires of hatred, that the appointment of Rabbi Karim is not up for discussion, that the Chief of Staff relies on the Rabbi, his decisions and abilities," Smotrich wrote in his letter to Eisenkot.