Speaking with Srugim, MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari addressed recent statements made by Bayit HaYehudi leader Naftali Bennett, in which Bennett issued a clarification, citing he opposes insubordination in the IDF and all soldiers and officers must adhere to orders. Ben-Ari has the number two slot on the party lineup.
Ben-Ari accuses Bennett of seeking to remain vague in his responses to these critical issues, and says one cannot lead without giving a definitive response to crucial issues such as defying orders if instructed to remove Jews from their homes.
When asked to state the position of the Otzma Yisrael Party led by his colleague Prof. Aryeh Eldad, Ben-Ari state emphatically that if a soldier is instructed to remove Jews from their homes as was the case in the 2005 Disengagement Plan, the soldier must refuse to comply with such an order. “As we saw during the disengagement, we are all soldiers. The IDF is the people’s army and a politician does not get to use the IDF as he sees fit”.
SRUGIM:
The IDF officers are to carry out the instructions as given by the political echelon.
BEN-ARI:
Correct but the IDF is supposed to defend and protect Am Yisrael, not the contrary. If Netanyahu wishes to destroy homes let him enlist police and pay them, and they will do it. That is not what the IDF is about.
We cannot permit one who enlists to defend the nation to find himself opposite a brother or cousin with instructions to remove him from his home. It is absurd.
SRUGIM:
There are those who maintain that calls for insubordination will lead to destroying the IDF from within.
BEN-ARI:
It is possible that in the short run this will occur but in the long run, the military will be a more moral army with higher values. The military is not a toll of the politicians but a defense mechanism of the citizens. If the military comes against its own citizens, it simply cannot work.
SRUGIM:
What do you think about what Naftali Bennett is going through in the past three day?
BEN-ARI:
I am concerned over his stuttering and ambiguous statements. Regarding an issue of throwing people out of their homes, from yishuvim, one must state one’s opinion, definitively, loud and clear.
It is most convenient to become a supermarket of opinions, telling everyone what he wishes to hear. But this is not the right wing, it’s Likud. Likud supports a Palestinian state and opposes it. Supports a construction freeze and opposes it.
I would like to hear Naftali Bennett define his red lines. Would he break from the government if a family is ousted from a caravan home or would they simply take Acamol (equivalent of Tylenol in USA) and when they arrive to remove residents from Ofrah he would then take Nurofen (stronger medication). For as long as he does not have red lines he can easily close ranks with Likud.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
Leadership means not letting supposedly “frum” boys to the army in the first place.
So it seems that the kippah serugah crowd believes in obeying the law except when they don’t agree with it. At least the hareidim are honest enough to assert that the medinah is treff. These “modern sorts” defend the kashruth of the medinah, but then assert that the food it serves is treff by their standards.
moshe feiglin wAS the only one who spoek clearly on television and said woe is to democracy freedom and speicifcally ajewish tate where we still throw people anyone from their homes and remove the right of concienscanable objection
soo and he also said he doesnt represent the likud in this matter which means…. that naftali bennet has turned his pary into a redundant party we need ben ari and his party in the knesset unlike the bibi with a kipa party there is no ideological difference between the two of them