Israel – The Israeli military says it has “severely reprimanded” an officer for distributing a religious booklet urging soldiers to show no mercy to their enemies.
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The unidentified officer handed out the booklet to troops during Israel’s fierce three-week military incursion in the Gaza Strip.
The army says the booklet was based on the writings of an ultranationalist rabbi identified with the Jewish settler movement in the West Bank. It says the chief military rabbi, Brig. Gen. Avichay Rontzki, did not see or approve the booklet before publication.
Some passages compared Palestinians to the biblical Philistines and suggested they had no right to land claimed by Israel. An Israeli rights group has said the passages bordered on “incitement to racism.”
The army says the case was an isolated incident.
On what grounds was he reprimanded? The pamphlet “suggested” that the Arabs have no right to the land of Israel? What’s wrong with that? They don’t. It’s not racist to tell the truth.
Kol hakovod for those who reprimanded him We are better than that. They should take orders only from their military superiors.
these ‘human rights’ groups are a cancer on humanity. they are directly responsible for the death of countless innocents all over the world.
how? because mercy is lethal towards evil and wickedness, and whenever good forces are battling evil killers the ‘rights’ groups wail and whine and stop the eradication of the killers. leading directly to more killing.
and the idf is dancing to the political correctness music? faugh!
I think they deserve a reward.
#10 , #11 are Apikorsim (or maybe the same apikores) who hide behind anonymity. Shomu shomayim! VIN moderators, how can you allow such comments through? You’ve blocked enough of my comments that I know you’re paying attention, so how can you not block such blatant apikorsus? The Torah guides actions only in a yeshivah or kolel? “The torah is entirely irrelevant to soldiers”?!! How can someone who pretends to be an erlicher yid write such a thing? (And why would anyone else be reading VIN?)
I ask you people again, DIVREI HORAV VEDIVREI HATALMID, DIVREI MI SHOM’IN? That’s not a “made up quasi rabbinic/heimeshe/yiddish quotation”, that’s Toras Moshe. And for your information all rabbonim, like all Jews, are subject to the chain of command that starts with Hashem; rabbonim in particular are commanded “lo soguru mipnei ish”, and that includes the Ramatkal and the Defense Minister. An order that is against the Torah is a blatantly illegal order that MUST be disobeyed.
And yes, the pamphlet is Torah. And if you think it’s just a fanatical interpretation, feel free to point us to a different one. The gemara in Sotah is pretty clear.
Oops, what was #10 is now #9 , since something before it was deleted. So the apikorsus is still up.
I might add, by the way, that the Israeli army is very aware of the fact that the Torah and its interpreters are the ultimate authority for more and more of its officers
1/3 of all combat-unit officers are dati.
The army accepts this, because they are the bravest fighters, but is more than a little worried — which is one more reason why they will think a thousand times before mass-evacuating any more settlements.
Show no mercy is not a d’oraiysa.
By the way no one wants to ‘hang’ him. he is being reprimanded.