An internal IDF document shows that Chareidi IDF soldiers from the Netzach Yehuda battalion were subject to multiple incidents of abuse from their direct commanders, Channel 12 News revealed in a report on Monday.
In a report documented during a surprise visit to a base in the Jordan Valley, soldiers gave harrowing testimonies about abusive behavior on the part of their commanders. One soldier related that due to the cold at night, he urinated in his bed. The commander laughed at him and refused to allow him to change, forcing him to spend all day with soiled clothing.
Another soldier said that he was struggling to run during training when the commander forcefully kicked him in his ribs without any provocation.
“The sergeant described himself as a ‘psychopath’ during training and told us: ‘I’m going to break you,'” one soldier said. “He refused to allow us to wear rain jackets when it rained during a trip and the next day we were all sick.”
Soldiers also spoke about the humiliating treatment they received when working in the kitchen, with one soldier saying that he was called an ‘animal’ during his kitchen shift.
Some soldiers said they were refused medical treatment and other basic needs and others said they weren’t allowed time for davening and other religious requirements.
The report added that some of the incriminating testimonies weren’t passed on to senior commanders – the Brigade Commander, the head of the Manpower Directorate and Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, who made it his priority to establish a unit to handle cases of abuse in the army.
The IDF spokesperson responded to an inquiry by Channel 12 by stating: “After receiving the results of the review, an in-depth investigation was carried out, headed by the base commander, which revealed that two commanders had failed in their duties. The base commander made a decision to dismiss one commander and reprimanded another.”
The internal report mentioned the fact that the testimonies are “especially troublesome” due to the extensive efforts the IDF engages in to recruit Chareidim to army service.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
13 Responses
here the criticize the chareidim and when they enter the army they trade them like garbage.
this is the so called jewish state. I went to the army in chutz laaretz and they acepted me and my religion
but only in Israel they think that they can do what ever they want.All chillonim with no respect. a shame of you
Scream and rail that chareidim need to “equally share the burden” and be drafted into the army and then abuse them there.
Scream and rail that chareidim are parasites who don’t work, take away daycare subsidies if both parents aren’t maximizing their earning power (working) and then ignore the prejudice in which potential employers don’t hire chareidim for positions for which they are qualified both in the public and private sector.
Yes – it’s sad, isn’t it?
Only in the Zionist paradise. Remember, these commanders are “Jews”. And to the (real) Jews under them, these Zionists called them “animals” and said “I’m going to break you”.
In case anyone still has any doubts about what the purpose is of the IDF, meaning, in case they don’t believe Zionist founding Prime Minister David Green’s own words about the subject, this incident should dispel those doubts. The purpose of the IDF is exactly as these sub-human pieces of garbage stated: to break the Jews and turn them into Zionist Goyim, one way or another.
Most armies tend to abuse soldiers during training. They perceive it as a “feature” not a “bug”. The theory is that since actual war is quite abusive (you really don’t believe that they have meal, sleep and bathroom breaks during battles, do you?).
Given the highly stratified sociology of Eretz Yisrael, they should have used officers and NCOs from religious backgrounds. Remember that to about half of Israelis, the hareidim are the greatest threat to society.
There are some really bad people out there and some of the are in the IDF. Two of my sons were in the IDF and experienced nothing but respect for being frum. I don’t believe this is a systemic issue but some bad individuals that the IDF has dealt with.
I’ve noticed that some of the articles on YWN lack background or context, especially YWN relies on its own reporting rather than other outlets. Specifically, “urinating in bed because of the cold” – in Israel, which isnt known for its Artic climate” – isnt something that everyone will automatically accept ir understand.
I’d respectfully suggest a stronger editorial review process.
Do non-Chareidi soldiers receive less abusive treatment? My experience in the Vietnam era US Army leads me to think that it’s standard training procedure to terrorize and abuse and trainees, both to get them used to following all orders unthinkingly and to get them used to functioning under at times extremely harsh combat conditions. Difficult as this may be from the trainees’ perspective, it might have some legitimacy as justified by the needs of preparing a fighting force. (Remember that the trainers themselves once went through this process and were then given special training in how to terrorize trainees and why that’s necessary from a military perspective. I remember hearing that in the Marines it was felt that a commander wasn’t doing his job if he didn’t drive at least one trainee in his unit to suicide.) Still, the IDF doesn’t need or want Chareidim, it would rather have only regular secular Israelis or even national religious ones who have a strong idealistic motivation, and is taking the Chareidim only because the politicians force it to take them because they consider it a national priority to secularize Chareidim and integrate them into mainstream Israeli society. For these reasons Rav Shach, Rav Elyashiv and Rav Shmuel Auerbach forbade Chareidim from going into the army b’yeihareig v’al yaavor. Still it is somewhat horrifying for an outsider to read about.
I was never a proponent of Chareidim going to the army, so please don’t accuse me of such. However, none of the above is abuse. It’s basic treatment that privates are subject to to toughen them up. It exists in all armies, even in the US army. I know someone who was a soldier in the US army and they go through much worse. What is happening here is that you have a bunch of guys who want to be Tzahal big shots and think that they will be treated like they are still in a Yeshiva dormitory. If they do want to join the army, they need to man up and stop acting like a bunch of sissies. Believe me the enemies will treat them a lot worse than any sergeant.
Addendum to the above: the religion discrimination is not acceptable under any circumstances.
Yankele1 – what does any of this have to do with religion? Basic training is designed to be very tough and every so often the young commanders in a basic training unit go too far. These things happen occasionally in chiloni and in D”L and in mixed units as well and, as in this case, the commanders who act this way are reprimanded and sometimes demoted. It should never happen, but sometimes it does and the IDF knows how to deal with it.
Additional comments:
To some extent that kind of work does attract certain psychopathic personalities who enjoy inflicting abuse on others and the army probably accepts that since it has to fill the positions. Also, IMHO the yeshiva system should be providing training for anyone who might wind up in the army (and the pressures to get yeshiva people into the army aren’t going to go away), both in how to cope with those experiences and remain committed to yiras Shamayim and how to do kiruv and chizuk to others in the situation. Get former yeshiva people who’ve gone through the experience and come out with their yiras Shamayim intact (or managed to recover it afterwards) to help with that training.
ymribiat being an Israeli, there are areas in Israel that can get pretty cold at night even in the summer, also there are areas where it can snow as well. when a person is not used to the cold / or temperatures drop to 50° or 40° in hot weather climate countries, thats considered very cold for thoughs people
Because everyone else does it? Then what is the point of a Jewish army or a Jewish state?
How about we do something different. Have a Torah army? Because if we accept psychopaths and rationalise it, what will we accept that everyone else does? So-called “war crimes”? Looting? Slavery? Genocide? Everyone else does it, so it’s okay! Right? What was the point then?