Jerusalem – Just days after the Israeli Defense Forces announced that they would no longer permit religious soldiers to leave official events that featured women singing and subsequent resignation of the chief rabbi of the Israeli air force, the Chairman of the Knesset’s Finance Department announced that he would tell all Chareidim not to enlist in the army.
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“The Chilonim are trying to remove any forms of religion from the army,” According to Haaretz, Moshe Gafni said in an interview with Radio Kol Chai. “While once I would have tried to persuade Chareidi boys to enlist in the air force unit that was accommodated religious soldiers, but now I would just tell them to stay out of the army altogether, because the IDF is attempting to remove all religion from the army and it is a danger to the Chareidim who enlist.”
Meanwhile Yediot Ahronot is reporting, The IDF informed haredi soldiers serving in the Air Force that the conditions of their military service will not be altered.
The announcement came on the heels of a debate over whether haredi soldiers should be excused from official military ceremonies that feature female performers.
Very stupid move unless he can back it up, as of now most Charadi or Charadel joining the army aren’t the type to vote UTJ, so he shouldn’t be jumping to say such comments especially now when the media is going frum Jew hunting.
I was never in the Army but I have several friends there and its sad but the Army does very little to make frum people want to join especially in the combat units, and those who do join have a really hard time, however most don’t regret going.
A plague on both their houses. The IDF should show some flexibility, but its also true that not everything that is assur is of equal importance. We’re not talking chillul shabbos here after all.
i think the chilino dont want the charedim to enlist. this way they can complain and justify their hatred against the charedim based of self made problems. like why cant a charedi man work? because they have to go to army to work and its against their religion to go t the army. Theyre scared of the rise in charedim in society so they dont want them in the army even.
Its absolutely ridiculous that the IDF is forcing chareidim to sit through a female singer’s performance. That is just plain l’hachis. Soldiers do not have a problem with other soldiers even if they are female. And if they are on stage, are modest, and are speaking and not singing then the chareidi men would have no valid reason to walk out, they can avert their eyes. On the other hand, the IDF can choose to issue these soldiers ear plugs so that they don’t have to listen but they don’t have to walk out either. If the IDF issues these soldiers ear plugs and they are NOT forced to buy them themselves then there is no issue of maares eyin because it can be assumed that they are using the IDF issued ear plugs at these performances.
A little common sense can go a long way in these situations. It is a matter of common courtesy and common respect all the way around. These same chiloni women soldiers would not be required to sit through a presentation on Gemarah if one of these Chareidi soldiers volunteered to give such a discourse at an IDF gathering.
Bottom line from an Israeli who knows what goes on daily here, the Chilonim do NOT want us in the IDF because we can out shoot them, we put them to shame despite our lack of physical skills before training, we out-fly them and out do them as far as our ability to discipline ourselves. The Officers by and large are l’hachis, and yes they even go as far as to try to make the religious be mechalel shabbos for such stupifity as getting the mefaked a pack of cigarettes on shabbos. They do not NEED us, they have plenty of Russians and Ethiopians and macho Israeli women who want to show what they can do. We are just window dressing even though we can outfight the best. They give us all the dirty work no one else will do and punitive stuff like cleaning women’s toilets even though they agreed not to.
Gafni is right