Rabbis at Secret Meeting: “Israeli” Soldiers Refusing Orders Are “Heroes”

Dozens of extremist Zionist rabbis held a secret meeting in occupied Al Quds (Jerusalem) on Sunday to discuss ways of bolstering the hesder yeshivas, the halachic argument for refusing to obey military orders to evacuate settlements, and the campaign against having the army evacuate "Israelis" from their homes.

The original plan had been to broaden the group of rabbis who provide halachic guidance for the National Union party. However, the rabbis decided to address more pressing issues affecting religious Zionism instead.

"The fate of a single hesder yeshiva is the fate of them all. There are various views at all the yeshivas, but one cannot be harmed as the rest stand by," Zalman Baruch Melamed, rabbi of Beit El and head of the yeshiva said.

"The "Israeli" army sends soldiers to be educated at Tel Aviv University, where lecturers openly call for refusing orders," he reportedly said.

Two rabbis also reportedly said, "We educate our soldiers to serve and not to refuse. But we can not present them with such a clash [of ideals]."

The rabbis also said that even if different hesder yeshivas adopt different views, this is not something that can be imposed on them. The rabbis said ordering soldiers to evacuate settlements in the Land of "Israel" was like forcing a person to do something contrary to his faith, which is prohibited. "A policeman can resign, but the soldiers cannot," they said.

The rabbis concluded that the campaign must gain momentum, because the soldiers must not be left on their own, and that their parents and the general public must be conscripted into the effort.

The rabbis also expressed support for the Shimshon and Nachshon Battalion soldiers who raised banners stating they refused to evacuate settlements, and called them "heroes."