PHOTOS: President Rivlin Visits Nachal Chareidi

(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

In light of recent violence against chareidi soldiers, on Tuesday 3 Tammuz, President Reuven Rivlin held a military tour of Binyamin Brigade, where he visited the soldiers of the Netzach (גדוד נצ״ח [נוער צבאי חרדי])Yehuda battalion, known more commonly as Nachal Chareidi.

Mr. Rivlin said, “You, the soldiers of Netzach Yehuda, are awake at night in ambushes and checkpoints, fighting against terrorists and enemies, and it is inconceivable that when you return to your neighborhood, someone will dare to raise your hand against you.

The president received a comprehensive survey of the situation in the area as well as the activities of the battalion. The visit was accompanied by the National Planning and Personnel Administration, Brig.-Gen. Eran Shani, the Kfir Brigade Commander Colonel Tzion Ratzon, the battalion commander of Netzach Yehuda, Lieutenant-Colonel Itamar Dashel, and the CEO of Netzach Yehuda, Aaron Angel. The president received a comprehensive survey from the battalion commander about the battalion’s structure and operational objectives, as well as the battalion’s human mix.

Afterwards, the president met with the soldiers of the unit who told him about the unique social challenges they have encountered since their enlistment in the IDF. Some 3,000 chareidim enlisted in the IDF this year, and recently a chareidi company joined the Paratroopers Brigade. Another company is active in the Givati Brigade.

The Netzach (Chareidi Military Youth) battalion was established under the title “Nachal Haredi” by the IDF in cooperation with the rabbonim and the Ministry of Defense. The battalion was established in order to enable chareidim to combine combat service while continuing to maintain their way of life. The battalion became independent until the establishment of the Kfir Brigade in 2002. By 2008, the battalion had carried out operational operations in the Jordan Valley Brigade and at the end of that year the battalion moved to Yehuda and Shomron in the Menashe Brigade.

The President thanked the soldiers and commanders for the visit and expressed his impression of the high operational level of this unique battalion, which over the years has grown to be the spearhead in the war on terrorism in Yehuda and Shomron.

“I was told that one of the soldiers said that when he was discharged from the yeshiva, he learned how to be a Jew and in the battalion he learned how to be a human being,” the president said to the soldiers and added, “I think that it is possible to study both in the army and in the yeshiva. In our Jewish existence, and also in the need to ensure our security – these values that are not contradictory, but complementary values.”