i THOUGHT YOU WERE ONCE SMART but to say earth where wars are won and survival ensured by brave people who give all the have is down right dumb. Hitler was brave and gave it all he had and lost. Jews gave il all they had in 2 wars on their land but were thrown out only not to come back till 1948. If it happened twice it can happen again in israel and you will be one of the first ones to see it. When your enemies take over your land and you tried being brave and giving it all you got please for the sake of your wife and children try praying to the G-d of your fathers. it can't hurt you and maybe you'll merit a miracle.

The timing on this issue of haredi draft deferrments is probably not chance. As I said before, Feiglin has come out with a recommendation that Orange Israel not serve in the IDF. http://www.jewishisrael.org/pdf/66/Update6627.pdf What will Halutz do if he can't put a kosher stamp on the expulsion of Jews from Yesha? Does he expect to get great soldiers from the haredim? There are some (Nahal). But no, he needs observant bodies in uniform. I think he's scared.

Listen to this from Israel National News: The chief justice spoke of “tolerance and understanding,” admitting there will be additional petitions and hearings on the subject in the future. Barak stressed that a legal solution cannot be imposed by the courts, but must be achieved through dialogue and patience. Me, I think this is funnier than the story about the divebombing crow that Ynet has as one of the top news stories now.

Thank you for your compliment , it still applies, don't worry. I became a soldier in the IDF over 45 years ago and was sworn in on top of Metzada and was handed a Tanaach by Rabbi Shlomo Goren. Ever since then it has been at my side and most certainly has gone into battle with me on a good number of occassions. It gives me inspiration, the language is beautiful, the stories are spellbinding and hardly a day goes by in my life without me reading a passage or a couple of pages and I regard it as the official history of our people. So you see I am not as dumb or anti as some of you think but between this and winning wars with the Book of Books the gap is not only wide it is non traversable.Once again, brave men, courage and determination, people like Halutz and plenty of 5.56 and 155mm, nothing else. Oops, forgot, a lot of love of country helps as well.

" hitler was brave "( no capital h intentional ). Very brave, he hid in a mountain retreat and in bunkers and sent millions of his people to their deaths, his understanding of military strategy was zero minus, anybody who argued with his orders was usually shot, all known or suspected dissidents were shot, at least one general was forced to poison himself for failing in duty, very brave man indeed was mr.hitler. In 1948, Moshe Dayan was famous for throwing a young officer off the battlefield because he took a "back seat", he Dayan, immediately took his place at the head of the attacking troops. All Israeli field commanders stand in front of their troops and lead the way, in war command centers move with the troops, and believe me I could tell you some stories about personal bravery and dedication that I have witnessed from soldiers and also from high ranking officers who could have given instructions from a safe distance buy did the job themselves or with the "boys". For me that is how Israel has won its wars and with all my respect for the Tanaach it is not an instrument of war.

Funny ? I just shed a load of tears.

"Funny" as in "Barak has suddenly found the concept of judicial restraint and he wants us to believe he is being sincere."

The High Court has a long history of judiciary activism promoting an extreme leftist, secular agenda. All you knee-jerk haredi bashers (you know who you are), have you even asked yourselves, why is the High Court ruling "in favor" of yeshiva students staying out of the army? All Israelis MUST SERVE in the IDF, including and especially the Haredi population. My family has been active in serving and promoting the Nahal Haredi Battalion and my Haredi relatives have served in IDF combat units. The HJC wants to MARGINALIZE the Haredi and Dati Leumi population as second-class citizens by exemptions and disallowing service even from volunteers if they support "settlers."

Yes, but Kyle, here is the odd thing. Unless this is just theater (and it may be), Halutz really was pissed at the "court." I had thought the reason was that Halutz needs observant Jews in uniform to validate future expulsions/pogroms. I had suspected that the "court" wanted to make sure that Shas was happy, or Merlot's government would fall, and this would mean that Jews would not be expelled, which is a major objective for the "court." It's plain that Merlot, Halutz, and Barak all want to expel the same Jews. So we need a way of reconciling Merlot/Halutz and Barak. The only way I can do so is to posit that the Halutz hissy fit was a sham.

There are approx. 1,000 soldiers serving in the Nahal Haredi Battalion (known as Netzah Yehuda). they recruit 3 times a year - just like the army and are extremely successful B"H. Give credit where its due...