Dr. Reuven Gal, a former IDF chief physiologist, has released his new book, “Between the Kippa and the Kumta (Beret)”. However, the book does not boast the increasing numbers of dati leumi officers, but seeks to set off an alarm of concern.
Gal writes that 20 years ago 4% of the graduates of IDF Officers School at Training Base One were religious soldiers. Today, that number stands at 40% and its growing by the day.
“Today, in combat units, there are brigade and battalion commanders from the religious Zionists. Their prevalence is much higher relative to their population size” he warns.
In essence, the author is correct and after 25 years, the IDF prepatory yeshivot which began with Yeshivat Bnei David in Yishuv Eli, have created a new reality, one that has some senior military commanders panicked. This was the big fear during the expulsion of Jews from Gaza and N. Shomron, that religious Jewish soldiers and officers would remain loyal to their rabbonim and Halacha in defiance of IDF orders. To date, this has not proven to be the case, at least not on a large scale, as many of the roshei yeshiva affiliated with these yeshivot instruct their talmidim that they must adhere to direct orders regardless of their harsh consequences, as was seen in the summer of 2005 in Gush Katif and N. Shomorn.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
I almost feel sorry for the chiloni-Lapid style-israeli. They are trying so hard to create their state based on garbage and the truth hits them head-on all the time….
Even their “holy” army is becoming too religious for themselves (I suppose that’s why they are working so hard to enlist the extremist chareidim!!! – What a bunch of absolute losers.)
There is nothing left to secular zionism at all – a society that has no interest in Israel, full of drugs, murders and worse – the next generation are piling out of Israel in droves. It is so pathetically sad to see the last few zionists still trying to smash the religious to save their dead horse.
To: Truehonesty:
The seculars are not the only zionists.
Data Leumi means Religious Zioinist.
This means that they are zionists.
They do not believe that the State is garbage.
Also, they are not “trying to create a state.”
The state already exists.
Well, they chilonim managed very well to turn the dati leumi and the chareidim against one another. So I’d say they’re doing just fine.
First they will come for the Hareidim, but theDati Leumi will not worry since they are not Hareidim. And when they come from the Dati Leumi….
his book is wrong i have huge faith in the assurance amongst all yeshivot and all soldiers there will never EVER be another gush katif