2008 Woodie Awards
Three Prominent Rabbis Criticize Refusal of Orders to Dismantle Settlements
Rabbis Lamm, Lichtenstein, and Bakshi-Doron Condemn "Insubordination" in Israel
Ari Fridman
Issue date: 12/6/04 Section: News
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Yeshiva Chancellor Norman Lamm has released the text of a statement, also signed by two leading rabbis in Israel, condemning "recent calls for insubordination" in Israel that encouraged members of the security services to refuse orders to dismantle Jewish settlements, as part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to disengage from Gaza and a small number of West Bank settlements next year.
The open letter warns that should soldiers heed calls for refusal of orders, they would "erode morale and discipline, endanger purposive unity, engender internecine strife, and embolden our enemies." The letter does not take a position on the advisability of disengagement, but asserts that it also is justifiable on halakhic grounds, in that it could potentially enhance the "long-term national security of Israel." That decision, the letter states, is strictly political, and can only be determined by the government of Israel.
Rabbi Lamm told The Commentator that he and his co-signers, Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein and Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, "felt very strongly" that actual disobedience on the part of Israeli forces would constitute a chillul Hashem [desecration of God's name] that would haunt us [the Jewish people] for generations." Rabbi Lamm, who is also the head of Yeshiva's rabbinical seminary, insisted that the letter was not politically motivated, but rather an argument on religious grounds that refusal is unacceptable.
The triumvirate's letter comes on the heels of a contentious parliamentary vote in late October that passed the Prime Minister's plan to pull out of Gaza and isolated settlements in the northern West Bank. Prior to the Knesset vote, large numbers in the religious Zionist camp vociferously protested in public against the plan. Their passion had been fueled in the preceding weeks by statements from leading rabbis, including former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira, supporting the right of soldiers to refuse orders to carry out the PM's disengagement plan.
The open letter warns that should soldiers heed calls for refusal of orders, they would "erode morale and discipline, endanger purposive unity, engender internecine strife, and embolden our enemies." The letter does not take a position on the advisability of disengagement, but asserts that it also is justifiable on halakhic grounds, in that it could potentially enhance the "long-term national security of Israel." That decision, the letter states, is strictly political, and can only be determined by the government of Israel.
Rabbi Lamm told The Commentator that he and his co-signers, Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein and Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, "felt very strongly" that actual disobedience on the part of Israeli forces would constitute a chillul Hashem [desecration of God's name] that would haunt us [the Jewish people] for generations." Rabbi Lamm, who is also the head of Yeshiva's rabbinical seminary, insisted that the letter was not politically motivated, but rather an argument on religious grounds that refusal is unacceptable.
The triumvirate's letter comes on the heels of a contentious parliamentary vote in late October that passed the Prime Minister's plan to pull out of Gaza and isolated settlements in the northern West Bank. Prior to the Knesset vote, large numbers in the religious Zionist camp vociferously protested in public against the plan. Their passion had been fueled in the preceding weeks by statements from leading rabbis, including former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira, supporting the right of soldiers to refuse orders to carry out the PM's disengagement plan.