General Dan Halutz, new IDF Chief of Staff, again has repeated warnings that insubordination will not be tolerated when orders are given to soldiers to back up police in the planned evacuation of Jews from their homes in August.
Major General Dan Harel, head of the Southern Command, said the army will "have to act in creative ways" to combat insubordination. Dispatching the Golani soldiers to the dangerous duty of entering the heart of Arab Gaza to prevent terrorist attacks during the evacuation was one way of avoiding the impracticality of jailing an entire elite unit. A confrontation with the unit could ignite a wave of announcements from soldiers that they are not able emotionally or physically to carry out evacuation orders.
The army estimates the operation will take at least three weeks, beginning about August 16, two days after the Fast of the Ninth of Av (Tisha B'Av).
The problem for the IDF is highlighted by the popular pre-Army military academy (Mechina) program. Soldiers from the 24 mechina institutions, a few of which are not religious, make up a disproportionate number of IDF officers. Alienating the officers could discourage leading officers from re-enlisting and thereby leaving the IDF with a large number of less motivated and less experienced commanders.
Halutz last week had to backtrack after threatening to shut down the country's Hesder yeshiva program, but officers remain worried about the determination of many soldiers who view the army's participation in the evacuation as a violation of the IDF's Code of Conduct.
Several leading rabbis have told soldiers they should not refuse orders but should state that they are not emotionally or physically able to back up police forcing Jews out of their homes. Several soldiers broke down in tears last week when the army and police destroyed an outpost in Gush Katif and evicted residents from a refurbished hotel.
The code states, "Service in the IDF stands for the love of the homeland [and] the IDF and its soldiers are obligated to protect human dignity." Israel's High Court rejected an appeal questioning the validity of the evacuation law but said the government's low compensation for Jewish residents in Gaza violated their dignity as human beings. Although the government has raised the amount of compensations, many soldiers, secular as well as observant, view the evacuation as going against their conscience.
The army has called up virtually all of its 8,000 reserve soldiers for evacuation duty, and many already have said they will become "sick" or simply will schedule themselves to be out of the country in order to avoid having to refuse orders.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reiterated on Tuesday his oft-repeated vow that there will be no "evacuation under fire." However, he has remained silent concerning continuing terrorist attacks beforehand and the prospect of worse terror after the evacuation. The assessment of virtually all IDF commanders is that Arab terrorists will escalate violence against Israel immediately following the military withdrawal from Gaza and the dismantling of 21 Jewish communities.
Major General Dan Harel, head of the Southern Command, said the army will "have to act in creative ways" to combat insubordination. Dispatching the Golani soldiers to the dangerous duty of entering the heart of Arab Gaza to prevent terrorist attacks during the evacuation was one way of avoiding the impracticality of jailing an entire elite unit. A confrontation with the unit could ignite a wave of announcements from soldiers that they are not able emotionally or physically to carry out evacuation orders.
The army estimates the operation will take at least three weeks, beginning about August 16, two days after the Fast of the Ninth of Av (Tisha B'Av).
The problem for the IDF is highlighted by the popular pre-Army military academy (Mechina) program. Soldiers from the 24 mechina institutions, a few of which are not religious, make up a disproportionate number of IDF officers. Alienating the officers could discourage leading officers from re-enlisting and thereby leaving the IDF with a large number of less motivated and less experienced commanders.
Halutz last week had to backtrack after threatening to shut down the country's Hesder yeshiva program, but officers remain worried about the determination of many soldiers who view the army's participation in the evacuation as a violation of the IDF's Code of Conduct.
Several leading rabbis have told soldiers they should not refuse orders but should state that they are not emotionally or physically able to back up police forcing Jews out of their homes. Several soldiers broke down in tears last week when the army and police destroyed an outpost in Gush Katif and evicted residents from a refurbished hotel.
The code states, "Service in the IDF stands for the love of the homeland [and] the IDF and its soldiers are obligated to protect human dignity." Israel's High Court rejected an appeal questioning the validity of the evacuation law but said the government's low compensation for Jewish residents in Gaza violated their dignity as human beings. Although the government has raised the amount of compensations, many soldiers, secular as well as observant, view the evacuation as going against their conscience.
The army has called up virtually all of its 8,000 reserve soldiers for evacuation duty, and many already have said they will become "sick" or simply will schedule themselves to be out of the country in order to avoid having to refuse orders.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reiterated on Tuesday his oft-repeated vow that there will be no "evacuation under fire." However, he has remained silent concerning continuing terrorist attacks beforehand and the prospect of worse terror after the evacuation. The assessment of virtually all IDF commanders is that Arab terrorists will escalate violence against Israel immediately following the military withdrawal from Gaza and the dismantling of 21 Jewish communities.