Hundreds of soldiers were bussed to the mission of "outpost evacuation" on Sabbath afternoon, including many who are religiously observant. They were thus faced with the dilemma of either "keeping the Sabbath" or following their commanders' orders. Yitzchak Meir, father of one officer who faced this problem, told Arutz-7 his story:
"My son, a commander of new trainees, called me only minutes before Shabbat to tell me that they had just been informed that at 2 PM the next day, they would be driven to the Shomron for 'outpost evacuation alert,' and that he didn't know what to do. In the half-minute that I had to speak with him, I told him that it couldn't be, that to take soldiers on non-security missions on the Sabbath is against General Staff orders, and that it certainly would be straightened out before it actually could occur… Last night, right after the Sabbath ended, he called and told me just how wrong I was. He said they had been tricked, in that they were told that this was a large-scale operation that is not done without the Chief Rabbinate's approval, and that they shouldn't argue. They were in fact ordered onto the buses on Shabbat afternoon, and were taken to the Shomron where they drove around for a few hours. They were very upset, and asked that the matter be publicized... In their discussions among themselves beforehand while deciding what to do, they didn't have that much to go on, except for what their commanders had told them. In addition, they were worried about their trainee soldiers who, seeing their commanders refuse orders, might themselves later refuse orders... I visited them last night, and there were some rabbis such as Rabbi Elyakim Levanon and Rabbi Daniel Shilo who were there as well; they said that the soldiers were in a sense 'co-erced' and had therefore done the right thing... As soon as I heard from my son last night, I called Chief IDF Rabbi Yisrael Weiss and was the first one to tell him what happened - which means that no one had consulted with him beforehand. He was shocked, and said that even if he had been asked, he would not have approved it."
Chief Rabbi Brig.-Gen. Yisrael Weiss later confirmed that there is no truth to the claim that he was asked about the mission in advance, and that it in fact should have been brought to his attention.
Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane spoke today with Rabbi Zecharia Ben-Shlomo of Yeshivat Shaalvim, author of the well-known and popular Halakhic [Jewish legal] book, "Laws of the Army." Rabbi Ben-Shlomo said that yesterday's incident represented a "trampling of the honor of the Sabbath, the Torah, the Chief Rabbinate, and of the army itself." He said that soldiers faced with orders that are clearly against the Halakhah should not fulfill them.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon said this morning that a "mistake" was made regarding the issue of Shabbat, and that he has ordered an investigation into the incident. Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer, too, said he would order an investigation. Several Members of Knesset representing the religious parties say that this is not sufficient, and called upon him to resign.
"My son, a commander of new trainees, called me only minutes before Shabbat to tell me that they had just been informed that at 2 PM the next day, they would be driven to the Shomron for 'outpost evacuation alert,' and that he didn't know what to do. In the half-minute that I had to speak with him, I told him that it couldn't be, that to take soldiers on non-security missions on the Sabbath is against General Staff orders, and that it certainly would be straightened out before it actually could occur… Last night, right after the Sabbath ended, he called and told me just how wrong I was. He said they had been tricked, in that they were told that this was a large-scale operation that is not done without the Chief Rabbinate's approval, and that they shouldn't argue. They were in fact ordered onto the buses on Shabbat afternoon, and were taken to the Shomron where they drove around for a few hours. They were very upset, and asked that the matter be publicized... In their discussions among themselves beforehand while deciding what to do, they didn't have that much to go on, except for what their commanders had told them. In addition, they were worried about their trainee soldiers who, seeing their commanders refuse orders, might themselves later refuse orders... I visited them last night, and there were some rabbis such as Rabbi Elyakim Levanon and Rabbi Daniel Shilo who were there as well; they said that the soldiers were in a sense 'co-erced' and had therefore done the right thing... As soon as I heard from my son last night, I called Chief IDF Rabbi Yisrael Weiss and was the first one to tell him what happened - which means that no one had consulted with him beforehand. He was shocked, and said that even if he had been asked, he would not have approved it."
Chief Rabbi Brig.-Gen. Yisrael Weiss later confirmed that there is no truth to the claim that he was asked about the mission in advance, and that it in fact should have been brought to his attention.
Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane spoke today with Rabbi Zecharia Ben-Shlomo of Yeshivat Shaalvim, author of the well-known and popular Halakhic [Jewish legal] book, "Laws of the Army." Rabbi Ben-Shlomo said that yesterday's incident represented a "trampling of the honor of the Sabbath, the Torah, the Chief Rabbinate, and of the army itself." He said that soldiers faced with orders that are clearly against the Halakhah should not fulfill them.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon said this morning that a "mistake" was made regarding the issue of Shabbat, and that he has ordered an investigation into the incident. Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer, too, said he would order an investigation. Several Members of Knesset representing the religious parties say that this is not sufficient, and called upon him to resign.