Bedouin soldier on patrol
Photo: Chaim Hornstein
'Fire back if needed'
New edict allows Bedouin soldiers to kill settlers who attack them; move comes in the wake of reports that rabbis permit targeting non-Jewish soldiers
TEL AVIV - A leading Bedouin cleric has issued a religious edict allowing Bedouin soldiers to kill anyone who attempts to harm them in the process of settlement evacuation, Channel 2 reported Wednesday.
"Whoever attempts to harm Bedouin soldiers…shouldn't think they would just stand there and do nothing," said Sheikh Kamal Abu Nadi, whose rulings are respected by families whose sons serve in the IDF.
Notably, Druze, Bedouin, and even some Muslim youngsters choose to serve in the IDF. The cleric himself served in the army for 11 years.
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The edict comes in the wake of unconfirmed reports that rabbis have issued an edict allowing far right activists to shoot at non-Jewish soldiers during settlement evacuation.
The police are currently looking into the reports.
'Anything is possible'
"Our soldiers are expected to take part in evacuating Gush Katif residents," Faisal Abu Nadi told Ynet Wednesday. "They too, just like any other soldiers, have the basic right to protect themselves."
"I hope the soldiers would not have to use the authority provided by the Sheikh," he said. "I'm certain our soldiers would refrain from any immoral act."
Abu Nadi said he believes anything is possible in the current atmosphere.
"If they murdered Rabin, what's a Muhammad or an Abdullah," he said. "It's not as impossible as I thought it was before."
