The commander of a Givati Brigade platoon, Freihan was discharged from the army this week, and just barely escaped having his stripes removed as well. O.C. Central Command Maj.-Gen. Dan Harel, in his discharge letter, recommended that Freihan be demoted to the rank of private, be "thrown out of the army immediately, and that it be ascertained in every way that he not be a commander in the future."
Harel wrote that Freihan was guilty of "choosing his missions" and "not meeting the standards of the IDF spirit and fulfilling the values of an officer."
Freihan cannot be charged with refusing orders, however, and can therefore not be demoted. This is because he only expressed his future intentions regarding a command, and did not outright refuse a specific command. He did this purposely, he told Arutz-7's Shimon Cohen: "In order not to have to actively refuse, I simply told my commander that since I know he is considering sending me to this task, I want him to know that I would not be able to fulfill it and that he should prepare accordingly."
The mission that Lt. Freihan and his soldiers was to fulfill involved the manning of a roadblock, the banning of entry to non-residents of Gush Katif and the checking of ID cards of residents who wish to enter.
Other recent reports of refusals in the army include:
* Six soldiers from the Givati Brigade have been tried by their deputy commander and were sentenced for 21 days in jail. They refused to carry out military orders they received in the framework of restricting entrance to the Gaza Strip...
* A platoon of Duchifat Brigade soldiers was sent on Wednesday to block up Gush Katif - but the soldiers refused. No steps have yet been taken against them...
* A non-religious Border Guard soldier - K.M. - from Petach Tikvah refused to board a bus yesterday that was to take him and his comrades to a Katif-blocking mission. His commander threatened to try him and send him to army jail, but K.M. still refused...
* Another soldier from Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav refused a similar mission; it appears that he will not stand trial...
* At least one soldier and one policeman had trouble with Katif-closing activities last night, and an eyewitness said she saw them quickly leave the scene when police began using undue violence against protesting residents...
Lt. Freihan told Arutz-7, "My immediate commanders appreciated what I did, but things began getting sticky with Gen. Harel. He said to me, 'What, you choose which missions to carry out and which not?' I said, 'No, that's why I'm coming to you beforehand, to tell you that since I know I am not able to carry out this particular mission, as I'm simply unable, let's not reach this situation."
"So he asked me what's the difference between what I'm doing and the refusal of left-wingers or pacifists to serve in the territories? When I heard this, I immediately said that it pains me that an IDF general can compare between someone who refuses to protect Jews in the Land of Israel, and someone who refuses to help out in the expulsion, or whatever you want to call it, of Jews from the Land of Israel. This is exactly the opposite of the mission of the IDF - the Israel Defense Forces - which is to defend Jews. This is not the Israel Expulsion Forces. I would rather take part in war against our outside enemies, and not in wars from within."
Freihan said that the "punishment" he received should not deter others from following in his footsteps:
"Essentially all that happened is that they released me from the army; the Chief of Staff wanted to demote me to private, but the Military Prosecution said this could not be done. It pains me that I won't be able to be a commander in the future in reserve duty, but I plan to fight this, because I don't think there's any connection...
"I would have hoped that this problem could have been solved differently. But I hope that I have begun a process of soldiers being true with themselves, looking at their conscience and Jewish heart, and saying that they are simply unable to take part [in the disengagement plan]. I am unable to expel a Jew. I can't come and take a mother and son from their home and throw them out, or help out in doing this.
"From my talks with soldiers, I sense that as the time comes closer, more and more soldiers will feel the same way as I do."
The IDF announced that it "will continue to act decisively against any acts of disobedience, whether by duty or reserve soldiers. IDF soldiers are not in a position to choose their missions, as difficult as they might be."
In a related item, ten paratroopers celebrated the end of their paratroopers course yesterday by jumping with orange ribbons trailing behind. One of the ribbons was particularly large. The army is reportedly looking for the offenders.
Harel wrote that Freihan was guilty of "choosing his missions" and "not meeting the standards of the IDF spirit and fulfilling the values of an officer."
Freihan cannot be charged with refusing orders, however, and can therefore not be demoted. This is because he only expressed his future intentions regarding a command, and did not outright refuse a specific command. He did this purposely, he told Arutz-7's Shimon Cohen: "In order not to have to actively refuse, I simply told my commander that since I know he is considering sending me to this task, I want him to know that I would not be able to fulfill it and that he should prepare accordingly."
The mission that Lt. Freihan and his soldiers was to fulfill involved the manning of a roadblock, the banning of entry to non-residents of Gush Katif and the checking of ID cards of residents who wish to enter.
Other recent reports of refusals in the army include:
* Six soldiers from the Givati Brigade have been tried by their deputy commander and were sentenced for 21 days in jail. They refused to carry out military orders they received in the framework of restricting entrance to the Gaza Strip...
* A platoon of Duchifat Brigade soldiers was sent on Wednesday to block up Gush Katif - but the soldiers refused. No steps have yet been taken against them...
* A non-religious Border Guard soldier - K.M. - from Petach Tikvah refused to board a bus yesterday that was to take him and his comrades to a Katif-blocking mission. His commander threatened to try him and send him to army jail, but K.M. still refused...
* Another soldier from Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav refused a similar mission; it appears that he will not stand trial...
* At least one soldier and one policeman had trouble with Katif-closing activities last night, and an eyewitness said she saw them quickly leave the scene when police began using undue violence against protesting residents...
Lt. Freihan told Arutz-7, "My immediate commanders appreciated what I did, but things began getting sticky with Gen. Harel. He said to me, 'What, you choose which missions to carry out and which not?' I said, 'No, that's why I'm coming to you beforehand, to tell you that since I know I am not able to carry out this particular mission, as I'm simply unable, let's not reach this situation."
"So he asked me what's the difference between what I'm doing and the refusal of left-wingers or pacifists to serve in the territories? When I heard this, I immediately said that it pains me that an IDF general can compare between someone who refuses to protect Jews in the Land of Israel, and someone who refuses to help out in the expulsion, or whatever you want to call it, of Jews from the Land of Israel. This is exactly the opposite of the mission of the IDF - the Israel Defense Forces - which is to defend Jews. This is not the Israel Expulsion Forces. I would rather take part in war against our outside enemies, and not in wars from within."
Freihan said that the "punishment" he received should not deter others from following in his footsteps:
"Essentially all that happened is that they released me from the army; the Chief of Staff wanted to demote me to private, but the Military Prosecution said this could not be done. It pains me that I won't be able to be a commander in the future in reserve duty, but I plan to fight this, because I don't think there's any connection...
"I would have hoped that this problem could have been solved differently. But I hope that I have begun a process of soldiers being true with themselves, looking at their conscience and Jewish heart, and saying that they are simply unable to take part [in the disengagement plan]. I am unable to expel a Jew. I can't come and take a mother and son from their home and throw them out, or help out in doing this.
"From my talks with soldiers, I sense that as the time comes closer, more and more soldiers will feel the same way as I do."
The IDF announced that it "will continue to act decisively against any acts of disobedience, whether by duty or reserve soldiers. IDF soldiers are not in a position to choose their missions, as difficult as they might be."
In a related item, ten paratroopers celebrated the end of their paratroopers course yesterday by jumping with orange ribbons trailing behind. One of the ribbons was particularly large. The army is reportedly looking for the offenders.