IDF Chief of Staff signals support for chief rabbi
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon voiced his support Friday for the army's chief rabbi, after the latter said he may resign if ordered to do so by a former chief rabbi who is opposed to the disengagement plan.
The IDF rabbi, Brigadier General Israel Weiss, had said in a television interview with Channel 1 that if Rabbi Avraham Shapira told him to resign, he would.
Ya'alon said that Weiss' remarks had been taken out of context, and that it is well known that the brigadier general is against the refusal to obey orders.
Several hours after he made his remarks, and following sharp criticism from the left, Weiss retracted his comments. He also emphasized that he was opposed to such refusal.
In an interview for the program "Saturday Night on 1" Weiss told former MK Nahum Langenthal that he recently met with Rabbi Shapira but "had not heard a request to take off my uniform." When asked by Langenthal what he would do in such an event, Weiss answered, "If such a request were made, I suppose you would be interviewing someone else here," (i.e. Weiss would resign, if instructed to by his mentor Rabbi Shapira - A.H.).
Several months ago, Shapira called on religious soldiers to refuse orders to evacuate settlements.
Weiss' words provoked sharp responses from the left. MK Yossi Sarid (Yahad) said Weiss should resign immediately, or that Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon should remove him. Peace Now and the Council for Peace and Security also called on Ya'alon to fire Weiss.
The president of the council, Major General (res.) Danny Rothschild, said Ya'alon must draw the analogy between Weiss and between a cadet in an officers' training course, who was recently removed from the course after he said he would refuse to evacuate settlements.
Rabbi Weiss told Haaretz on Thursday that his words were a "slip of the tongue," and that the outraged responses were a "storm in a teacup."
"Last week I clearly condemned refusal at every possible opportunity," Weiss added. "Sometimes, I felt like I was in the line of fire. I was at Rabbi Shapira's a month ago. I asked him if he felt I must resign, and he answered in the negative, although our views differ: he supports refusal, and I am against it. The interview question was only theoretical. Rabbi Shapira understands that every one of us has a duty in this matter - and thus he has no expectation that I will resign."
Senior military sources told Haaretz that the far right has identified army rabbis as a "weak link" in any attempt to implement the pullout plan. Thus, they said, heavy pressure is being placed on the rabbis on the assumption that if one of them quits, it will create a chain reaction that will make it difficult to evacuate settlements. |
