Religious soldiers have been more prominent in the IDF in recent years and several are senior officers. Several Knesset members and a leading pre-military educator denounced Yatom's statements, which he made Friday during a discussion in Tel Aviv about a recent book which deals with a fictional coup.
"Soldiers wearing 'kippot' (skullcaps) are excellent soldiers, but their rabbis have a great influence over them," Yatom said. "They are prepared to obey a rabbi before they obey IDF officers. A few years ago, I thought this scenario was a hallucination, but since then we have seen the de-legitimization of the government and Knesset and Rabbis inciting and encourage rebellion and refusal - many soldiers consider the orders of rabbis stronger than the orders of officers. It is impossible to consider a coup d'etat as imaginary.
Yatom warned that senior military officers "can take their units and stage a coup."
About one-third of the soldiers in Army elite units and in officers courses are religious, according to Rabbi Moshe Hagar, a reserve Army colonel and head of the association of 24 pre-military academies ("mechinot").
Dismissing any possibility of a coup d'etat, Hagar said Yatom's comments were a "personal injury" to the army and to his own standing as a reserve officer. He emphasized that the pre-military academies and several leading rabbis have opposed the idea of refusing to follow army orders.
"I am sorry that MK Danny Yatom does not deal with the main issue," Hagar added. "He is part of a government that acts in an undemocratic way and tries to impose on the IDF actions that are against the conscience of the people."
Yoel Hasun, head of the Young Likud, responded with charges that Yatom's comments were incitement and called on the Knesset Ethics Committee to investigate. National Union MK Uri Ariel said Yatom spoke with unjustifiable hate against religious soldiers "whose loyalty to the army and government is unquestionable."
"Soldiers wearing 'kippot' (skullcaps) are excellent soldiers, but their rabbis have a great influence over them," Yatom said. "They are prepared to obey a rabbi before they obey IDF officers. A few years ago, I thought this scenario was a hallucination, but since then we have seen the de-legitimization of the government and Knesset and Rabbis inciting and encourage rebellion and refusal - many soldiers consider the orders of rabbis stronger than the orders of officers. It is impossible to consider a coup d'etat as imaginary.
Yatom warned that senior military officers "can take their units and stage a coup."
About one-third of the soldiers in Army elite units and in officers courses are religious, according to Rabbi Moshe Hagar, a reserve Army colonel and head of the association of 24 pre-military academies ("mechinot").
Dismissing any possibility of a coup d'etat, Hagar said Yatom's comments were a "personal injury" to the army and to his own standing as a reserve officer. He emphasized that the pre-military academies and several leading rabbis have opposed the idea of refusing to follow army orders.
"I am sorry that MK Danny Yatom does not deal with the main issue," Hagar added. "He is part of a government that acts in an undemocratic way and tries to impose on the IDF actions that are against the conscience of the people."
Yoel Hasun, head of the Young Likud, responded with charges that Yatom's comments were incitement and called on the Knesset Ethics Committee to investigate. National Union MK Uri Ariel said Yatom spoke with unjustifiable hate against religious soldiers "whose loyalty to the army and government is unquestionable."