Religious groups are ‘penetrating’ Israeli army

sw

nt

That article in incredibly eye-opening. Im blown away by the fact that the Army is actually encouraging this trend. Whats the end-goal here? An army of religious terrorists?

Certainly explains the horrific human rights violations against the people of Gaza. Bookmarked.

not representative of the israeli public... bzzt....very fringe....klank...bzzt

There is no concept in any stream of Judaism that talks about "waging a holy war". His use of Jihadist language to describe the behavior of religious Zionists undermines whatever credibility he has and demonstrates a very poor understanding of the religious/revisionist Zionist movements.

Whether Judaism contains a holy war concept or not is beside the point. The language is used in the information being distributed to soldiers.

From the article:

The booklet quotes extensively from Shlomo Aviner, a far-right rabbi who heads a religious seminary in the Muslim quarter of East Jerusalem. He compares the Palestinians to the Philistines, the Biblical enemy of the Jews.

He advises: “When you show mercy to a cruel enemy, you are being cruel to pure and honest soldiers … This is a war on murderers.” He also cites a Biblical ban on “surrendering a single millimetre” of Greater Israel.

too -- who refer to themselves as "Holy Warriors". The Christian Crusades have been characterized as a "holy war" in countless references. Any religiously motivated warfare can accurately be termed a holy war.

It's not a singularly Islamic term, it's just a loose translation of the Arabic word "jihad" which actually has a much more complex many-layered meaning than just the simple English idiom of "holy war".

sw

He didn't say waging 'a' holy war, he said waging holy war, which is a clear reference to Jihad.

involved. I'm not playing.

I wonder if Cook is aware of that or if indeed he approved that title. He is a regular contributor there.

As the the content itself, the article is magnifying a small issue to make it appear to be a big issue which suits the agenda of the author (present Israel in a negative light).

Islamophobic folks do the same thing all the time in regard to the Arab world.

so to speak I think their real aim is as a bulwark against any attempt to evacuate the West Bank settlements to create a situation were that is impossible without a civil war and of course to prevent there from being a Palestinian state ever and they have said as much.
It also seems they have learned from their American counter parts in the religious right here to get their people into key positions in any field situation who's orders do the common soldiers even secular ones follow, those of their commanders which is why the high number ultra religious officers

<snip>

"A small number of young men soon to be drafted into the IDF from Hesder yeshivot around the country gathered at the Jerusalem Theater on Monday evening to hear speakers from the national-religious camp espouse the virtues of fulfilling "the commandment of war."

The event, the first of its kind, was organized to salute young religious men about to be inducted and attracted just over 100 youths.

IDF Chief Rabbi Brig.-Gen. Avichai Ronsky told the youths it was a privilege to be able to take part "in the commandment of war and the preparations for fulfilling it."

"Embrace this commandment with all your hearts. It is a right previous generations could not realize," Ronsky said.

The IDF chief rabbi said Jewish armies, from the battles between the Israelites and the tribe of Amalek to the present day, had always been manned by virtuous soldiers.

Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau delivered a speech expressing hope that Israel would embark on preemptive wars rather than wait for "the enemy to come here... and see the whites of our eyes."

"King David taught the people of Judah how to use the bow and arrow... Jacob our patriarch blessed his son Judah and told him to fight Israel's enemies, to attack them and not fight defensively... The descendants of the tribe of Judah will do the same," Lau said."

more

These radicals had no qualms in killing fellow Jews because they dared to support peace. Google it! Remember the Zealots?

I don't see the IDF following orders to dismantle the settlements in the Jordan Valley if ordered to do so.