Twenty-one days in prison is the maximum sentence the unit's Battalion Commander was able to hand down for Rabinovich's refusal. Noam's relatives told Arutz-7 that he accepted the verdict "happily."
Nine permanent homes were destroyed in Amona after the Supreme Court refused to allow the Yesha Council to destroy the homes themselves. Mounted troops with clubs and riot police in body armor indiscriminately beat protestors, spurring a Knesset decision to form a commission of inquiry. Injured protestors and their families, as well as educators and public figures, continue to demand an impartial inquiry similar to the Orr Commission, which was formed after the death of Israeli-Arab rioters at the start of the Oslo War.
The "Jewish Soldier" organization released a statement praising Rabinovich's moral courage:
"We see a great difference between Noam's behavior and that of the Deputy Battalion Commander [a resident of a Shomron communiyt], who was supposedly 'fixing [the system] from the inside.' [The latter] not only took part in the veiled crime of manning the outer perimeter, but insisted that his driver accompany him and made sure he was tried and sentenced when he refused. Noam, thank G-d, has not been spoiled by the malady of ‘fixing from the inside' and understood, like a good and healthy Jew, that there are things that one simply does not take part in – without calculations and vain pilpul [Talmudic hair-splitting]."
In a related story, IsraelNationalRadio's Avi Hyman will co-hosting his "Activist Hour" show today (Sunday) with former U.S. Army Seargeant Avi Mechanic. After active duty in Iraq, Mechanic made Aliyah and volunteered in the IDF, where he made it clear to his commanders that he would not aid the expulsion of Gush Katif in any way. The show will be broadcast live at 7 PM Israel time (12 noon NY time). It can be heard afterwards here.