AIR FORCE: RELIGIOUS JEWS AND THE I.D.F. (ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES)

AIR FORCE: RELIGIOUS JEWS AND THE I.D.F. (ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES)

copyright (c) 2006 by Rabbi Yehoshua Friedman

LIBERATED YERUSHALIYIM, D.C. (David's Capital), Liberated Israelite Tribal Territories of Yehudah and Binyamin, Kingdom of David and Shlomo, United Israelite Kingdom of Yehudah and Yosef, Yom Sheini, 15 Shvat, 5766 (Tu Bishvat/New Year for Trees) Root & Branch Information Services [mailto:rb@rb.org.il]:

In the aftermath of the Gaza expulsion and the Amona Pogrom, many Torah-observant ("religious") Jews are asking whether they should continue to send their sons as cannon-fodder to the I.D.F. (Israel Defense Forces), where they now absorb a disproportionate part of the casualties. At the same time a glass ceiling limits their chances to reach the highest echelons of the military. There is also fear that the yeshivot hesder, whose students combine shortened military service with Torah study, and the pre-military academies, which provide a year of Torah study on a lower level prior to the full three years of service, will be either closed or corrupted or placed under extreme pressure.

Don't worry, say some optimists, Torah-observant Jews comprise half the soldiers in combat units and a significant proportion of members of elite units. We have them over a barrel. How can the country defend itself without us? Ah, my friends, that is a good question. The possible answer is that they, the New World Order, do not want us to be able to defend ourselves anyway.

When there is no longer a functioning Israeli army, the Olmert -- or is it Valdemort -- Puppet Government will come crying to the World Powers that be, U.S./U.N./E.U./"Quartet" "Road Map"/G8 etc. and whine like good ole' harmless Uncle Jake golus yidden, "we can't defend ourselves, we will be destroyed". Then Prime Minister Valdemort gratefully accepts the aid of foreign troops. The ultimate Trojan horse is inside the walls and the mask is off.

Here's the other option, as suggested by some of my rabbis: Go to the army. Watch your flanks very carefully. Stand up for your rights. As Torah-observant soldiers you are entitled to the highest degree of kosher food: kosh, kosher, koshest. You are entitled to be free from anti-religious harassment such as being cursed by drill instructors, not being allowed to go home early enough for Shabbat to be able to get there on time, being forced to work with women soldiers in improper proximity, etc.

Stick together and insist on your rights. At the same time keep track of all the monkey business that goes on. When the illegal, immoral orders go out, at a certain point passive refusal will not be enough. Then we will have to up the ante. At that point it is important to be there. The physical danger will be great, but fighting the enemy within is at least as important as fighting the Arab enemy.

Now, another note about the Expulsion ("Disengagement"): Last summer another red line was crossed, the purity of functionality of the most reliable and functional part of the I.D.F., the Air Force. The Air Force, previously adamant about maintaining I.D.F. purity of arms doctrine, was suborned in two ways.

First, I.A.F. (Israel Air Force) commander Dan Halutz was placed in charge of the entire I.D.F. (Israel Defense Forces), to be made responsible for the Expulsion.

Second, I.A.F. pilot cadets were threatened with removal from pilot training and cajoled into participating in the Expulsion Forces.

Up to now the Israel Air Force has been free of preconceived notions. The Air Force tradition of "tahkir", debriefing after every mission, insured the logic test and reality check about what went wrong. There was no politics and no scapegoating, only the clarity of "getting it right".

That last stronghold has now been corrupted.

Shavua Tov from Liberated Kochav HaShachar,

Rabbi Yehoshua Friedman [mailto:friedy07@netvision.net.il]
Board Member, Root & Branch Association, Ltd.;
Chairman, Noahide Fellowship, Root & Branch Association, Ltd.;
Faculty Member, chesder (military) Yeshivat Ma'alei Ephraim

Rabbi Friedman and his wife Janet are among the original founders of Kochav HaShachar, a Jewish Pioneering Community in the Israelite Tribal Territory of Eretz Binyamin (Land of Benjamin), located in what is today known as the Shomron (Samaria).