Ynet targeted Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, the rav of the Karnei Shomron Hesder Yeshiva, the yishuv, and the Shomron Regional Council along with Tzfas’ Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu.
The two, affiliated with the dati leumi tzibur are among the rabbonim invited to meet with and address IDF soldiers. Ynet finds this troubling since Levanon has been an open opponent to obeying orders to evict Jews from their homes, as well as a critic of the IDF’s kol isha and also not afraid to criticize the High Court of Justice when rulings contradict halacha.
Rabbi Eliyahu is cited for the same, in addition to his letter calling on Jews not to rent or sell property in Tzfas to Arabs.
Ynet questions how such rabbis can be permitted into military bases, to address soldiers and spread their questionable ideology. The report indicates these rabbis are controversial and problematic and therefore, not the most suitable for meetings with military personnel.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
These are precisely the kind of Rabanim that SHOULD speak to soldiers.
These are Rabanim that can instil true JEWISH values into them. JEWISH Values that people like Ehud Barak have absolutely NO clue about.
To #1..
What a mindless comment. With the threat of war on nearly all its borders at at the highest levels in over three decades, you really want an army where soldiers are encouraged to question and challenge their officers?? This is not some type of game or shiur in kollel where you encourage the yungerleit to ask questions and challenge interpreations. You want clear and unchallenged obedience to orders from the General not some extremist rabbonim who could care less about the military chain of command.
Why do people read Ynet? The reporting is horrible, the English translations often ludicrous, and the editorial policy sensationalist. One needn’t know that they’re actively anti-Torah to avoid them.
#2, That bridge was crossed in the 1950s, when the Israeli High Court convicted soldiers for obeying an illegal order. Since then every soldier has to examine his orders and determine whether they’re legal. Absolute obedience belongs to Hashem, not to any military commander. דברי הרב ודברי התלמיד, דברי מי שומעין?
Ynet is known for using provocative stories that slander in order to create desire on reader to continue reading a basically bankrupt ‘news’ paper.
Many of the writers lack professional standards and are driven to write slanderous articles out of personal agendas. But, some Frum ‘news’ papers also do this, i.e. Bechdrei Chedrim’s recent scandal.