Bayit Yehudi party leader Naftali Bennett released his long-awaited response to the ongoing crisis in the IDF surrounding soldiers with beards.
Speaking with Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) on Monday, 20 Adar-I, Bennett called on all involved to calm down and avoid refusing a direct order. He explained Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon announced that persons with a beard for religious reasons are not compelled to shave, calling on commanders tor refrain from giving such an order.
Galei Tzahal:
Do you agree with party colleague Deputy Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, who said he personally would not shave but would rather go to jail?
Bennett:
This discussion is unnecessary. I do not wish to speak hypothetically since a solution has already been reached.
It appears during the coming three months the IDF is going to try to fine tune the new regulation with the understanding a religious soldier will not be compelled to shave his beard.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
hes like a classic politician avoiding the question, lets make Arabs shave their beards.
Bennet is correct in this case. Yiu are trying to create a fictitious scenarios the IDF is trying to destroy Judaism.
No one is forcing anyone to shave. Every commander knows which of his soldiers is religious and which is not. No religious soldier is being forced to shave his beard.
So who is being forced to shave, then???
Non religious soldiers who just don’t want to shave everyday because it is an inconvenience. The only reoson this is an issue is because the army is specifically trying to accommodate religious soldiers.
In every army every soldier must very easy shaven with his shoes shined every morning. Many people picky back on the religious exemption for beards even though they are not religious. The army is just trying to find a way to stop that.