According to reports from IDF Prison 6, the commander of the facility, which is located in Atlit, is known for his disdain for ‘Kodshei Yisrael’, and this is the introduction to this most painful story, which B”H does not reflect the overwhelming number of commanders serving in the IDF.

According to the Kol Yehudi News report, this incident occurred on Tuesday, 14 Adar-I when the commander arrived in the shul area where Company Alef was davening. He interrupted davening and spoke to them, but the soldiers did not respond since they were in the middle of kaddish.

The angry officer walked up the Aron Kodesh and signed a crucifix on his body as Christians do, in front of the Aron! Needless to say the mispallalim were horrified, expressing their disgust and disapproval over his actions. The commander insister they complete their sentence with “Mifaked” (Commander) to which some of the soldiers explained “the only mifaked here is HKBH and you in particular are not worthy of the title”.

There are numerous reports citing this is by far not the first time this commander taunted and degraded frum soldiers. Another case cited is when he made reference to their tallis and tefilin, he said “go put your black boxes and white cloths over there”.

The soldiers involved in Tuesday’s incident explain the commander looks for any and every opportunity to taunt religious soldiers.

To the IDF’s credit, while not a great deal of time has passed since the latest incident, the commander was held accountable for his actions and removed from his post.

The IDF Spokesman’s Office explains “This was an isolated incident…The officer apologized to his subordinates and officers alike”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)