IDF rabbi's twisted Zionism

In addition, he declared that one of his main objectives as IDF chief rabbi would be to prevent another disengagement, by addressing the "spiritual rupture" he was talking about. By doing so, not only did he violate the rules regarding political declarations while in uniform, but also made it clear that his military post is meant to serve a clear political ideology.

Only recently, Major-General Ron-Tal was dismissed from the IDF because of a political declaration he made in an interview. In accordance with this precedent, it is clear that the chief of staff much now dismiss Rabbi Ronsky. It cannot be that what an officer about to be released from the army is not allowed to do, will be met with silence when we're talking about the declared intention of someone who just assumed his post.

These expressions are illegitimate regardless of this content, because they were uttered by an officer in uniform. However, the public should also be disturbed by the nature of those positions. It turns out that the army rabbi doubts the existence of secular Zionism.

Just like other settler rabbis, Rabbi Ronsky views the settlements as a sole, supreme value, thus leaving most Israeli society outside his cycle of values. Ronsky points to the Kibbutz sector as an example of the big rupture he identifies within secular Zionism, and offers a missionary plan (even though he distances himself from this express) to handle it.

Music has value, too

We are fed up with rabbis who seek to rule what or who is considered "a positive value": the army rabbi declares that he assumed his post in order to mend the rift between the settlers and the army in wake of the disengagement. It's regretable that the way he chose to mend one rift is by creating another one in its place.

When he attacks the Kibbutzim, Ronsky is first and foremost not true to the facts: In recent years the Kibbutzim underwent a complex process or rehabilitation and reinvention. The economic and social changes at the Kibbutzim were led through a significant debate on values regarding the Kibbutz's image and its influence on Israeli society.

Indeed, this subject exposed one of the most problematic aspects of the army rabbi's worldwide. His narrow, twisted perception of Zionism. During the interview he noted that he was unconcerned when his 12-year-old daughter was fighting the evacuation of Neve Dekalim. He would have been more concerned had she attended a rock concert, he said.

It appears that for the army rabbi, Zionism is minimized to the display of military force and to settlement activity. Culture and music apparently have no value. When secular society goes to war, as did Kibbutz members too in the recent Lebanon war, it does so not for the sake of God, but rather, for the sake of a series of other sturdy values: A democratic state, social solidarity, and human rights.

We fight to defend those close to us, just as we fight for the right to read the books we want or attend the performance of rock star Shalom Hanoch.

Ronsky's words the classic sin exhibited by certain military and religious men, namely forgetting that the military is not a goal in and of itself. The Israel Defense Force cannot exist without Israeli society and culture, which it defends.

The Kibbutz Movement is proud of its sons, who fought in the second Lebanon war, and mourns the death of 17 sons killed during the campaign. At the same time, we realize that values are not only expressed through service in the IDF.

That's why the Kibbutz Movement runs a teachers' college, a high-quality dance group, and a large publishing house. Those too, just like the lively cultural environment in Tel Aviv, which Ronsky dismissed out of hand, constitutes activities boating positive values of the first order.

By refusing to recognize the numerous ways for contributing to Israeli society, the rabbi expresses anachronistic positions that prove he is unfit for a government post such as IDF chief rabbi.

The writer is the Kibbutz Movement's secretary-general