IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gabi Ashkenazi recently summoned IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Avichai Ronsky to discuss the IDF Chief Rabbinate’s distribution of a pamphlet during Operation Cast Lead which contained “political overtones”. Haaretz reports the meeting was the result of a report on the pamphlets which appeared in the paper, as the daily continues to monitor Ronsky’s activities, leveling a modicum of criticism against him for overstepping the bounds of his jurisdiction as he continues his kiruv activities in the military.
It appears that the publication contains writings of Rav Shlomo Aviner, in which the rav writes during portions of a war, one must exhibit “cruelty” and warned against “concessions of even one millimeter of Eretz Yisrael”.
After the report, Meretz MK Avshalom Vilan turned to the defense minister, demanding action against Rav Ronsky. In a response to the MK, an aide to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, attorney Ruth Bar wrote that the pamphlet was distributed towards the end of the war and as such, only a small number were actually given out.
The chief of staff instructed the chief rabbi to investigate the matter and to derive the necessary lessons from his investigation. As Bar explained, Ronsky was not personally involved in the pamphlet and therefore, he was unfamiliar with its content. Once the situation became known, Rav Ronsky summoned the responsible party, who was censured for the publication.
Vilan is still concerned, explaining the issue is not the pamphlet as much as the matter of exceeding one’s authority and “boundaries”, explaining “they turned it from a war that was necessary into a holy war. If the IDF chief does not firmly define the boundaries, we will very quickly find ourselves opposite battalions of fundamentalist Jews” stated Vilan.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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One Response
yup…fundamentalist Jews are the problem…not arabs with missiles….let’s realign ourselves. we are in this predicament, because of NOT following the Torah. how will continuing to NOT follow it make it any better can only be answered by (or not) by a fool in the circus government