One of the conclusions that can be deduced from Israel's election campaign is that generals have ceased to be political drawing cards. Former IDF Chiefs of Staff Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot trampled the admiration the public had for generals to dust.
They formed a political party based on the premise that if a soldier follows his commander in battle, that will continue to be the case in civilian life, but they did not take into account that a soldier does follow his commander, but not a general who has been re-educated by the Wechsner Foundation and the Mandel Institute.
What happened to the National Unity Camp in politics is a reflection of what is happening in the IDF. An elite is being created here, far removed from the field, of high level IDF officers occupied with conversation about human rights, gender equality and that which is politically correct. On the other side of the fence stand our highly motivated soldiers, traditional, desirous of victory. These fighters want to eliminate terrorists but the generals are busy engaging in progressive leftist talk which sees terror as caused by the "rift in the nation," meaning that if they re-educate the public, terror will disappear.
That was Gantz's message in the elections and it is also the reason the value he called "statesmanlike" entered the spirit of the IDF. Let us hope that future Chiefs of Staff will draw the right conclusions, be in contact with the field, stop trying to educate the people, and stay out of politics.
In addition, the time has come to eliminate the roles of leftist institutes and foundations from IDF officer training, cut the ties with the Wechsner Foundation, educate officers and soldiers to love their birthplace and national home on the basis of Jewish sources, stop putting equality above all other values in the IDF and replace it with the value of victory.
Rabbi Itai Esman heads the Torat Halechima (Torah Military Arts) Organization
Translated from Hebrew by Rochel Sylvetsky