The Rabbis Council of Yesha, expressing their pain at the uprooting of Jewish points of settlement in the Land of Israel by soldiers in the midst of a war against terrorism, called on soldiers to exercise their democratic right of "conscientious objection." The rabbis suggested that soldiers ask their commanders to excuse them from evacuating Jews from their homes, saying that it contradicts their beliefs. Left-wing MKs were quick to call for a police investigation of the rabbis on suspicion of incitement. In a statement formulated yesterday at the Assaf Junction Outpost between Beit El and Ofrah, the Yesha rabbis said,
"Every outpost in Israel is part of the commandment of settling the land, and it is forbidden to evacuate their residents… The IDF is the army of the nation, and its task is to prevent terrorism and defeat Israel's enemies. No one, not even a government minister, may abuse his standing and use the IDF to evacuate outposts and thus draw it into a public debate. We call on the government to come to its senses and revoke the decree, and not to cause an internal war while we're engaged in a war with external enemies."
The Rabbis Council, represented yesterday by Rabbis Zalman Melamed, Dov Lior, Elyakim Levanon and Daniel Shilo, further stated, "Every diversion of IDF forces from their chief missions of defending the country strikes a blow at national security, according to security figures. We call upon other families to 'settle in' everywhere that needs reinforcement… A government that in any way hurts the settlement enterprise is not worthy of cooperation with it, and we call upon the Zionist parties not to give a hand to such a government."
Army officials said today that the uprooting of populated outposts such as Assaf and the Gilad Farm near Kedumim will be postponed until the Supreme Court completes its review of the matter.
"Every outpost in Israel is part of the commandment of settling the land, and it is forbidden to evacuate their residents… The IDF is the army of the nation, and its task is to prevent terrorism and defeat Israel's enemies. No one, not even a government minister, may abuse his standing and use the IDF to evacuate outposts and thus draw it into a public debate. We call on the government to come to its senses and revoke the decree, and not to cause an internal war while we're engaged in a war with external enemies."
The Rabbis Council, represented yesterday by Rabbis Zalman Melamed, Dov Lior, Elyakim Levanon and Daniel Shilo, further stated, "Every diversion of IDF forces from their chief missions of defending the country strikes a blow at national security, according to security figures. We call upon other families to 'settle in' everywhere that needs reinforcement… A government that in any way hurts the settlement enterprise is not worthy of cooperation with it, and we call upon the Zionist parties not to give a hand to such a government."
Army officials said today that the uprooting of populated outposts such as Assaf and the Gilad Farm near Kedumim will be postponed until the Supreme Court completes its review of the matter.