Funny how the esteemed rabbi chooses only part of the story to justify his seditious values. Does he also want to marry off Jewish women to goyim leaders...in order to protect the Jewish people? Or is his concern only to tell his soliders to disobey the laws of Israel.

Note that the Rabbi did not define what is or is not against Halacha. Accordingly, if a Soldier believe his instructions are against Halacha, he is suppposed to consult with a Halachic authority, which may include the IDF Chief Rabbi (amongst others, who may also be in consultation with the IDF). Concsequently, Ynet's reporting of this news item is basically another example of incitement against a segment of the population which serves its State loyally.

This is no different than extreme Muslims holding their religious laws to be above those of the state. This Rabbi is endorsing illegal activity and undermining the rule of law in Israel, and frankly, this is nothing short of treason.

The whole legitimacy for the state of Israel, is the fact that Hashem gave us the the Land. Therfore if we dont do what Hashem wants of us, we have no right to the land. When it comes to our own security, there can be no compromises, the Torah tells us the din of Rodef (a killer on the loose) we have to protect ourselvs.

With this kind of idiotic logic, the IDF should have remained in the synagogues on Yom Kippur 1973 and allow the Arabs to destroy Israel. Fortunately, the more pragmatic amongst us do not take these old fools' ramblings seriously.

that's fulfilling the Quraanic prophecy: They destroy their home by their own hands.

the rabbi has not gone far enough,the army has an obligation to depose this criminally insane,traitorous pathetic delusional coward ehud olmert,and his gangster government,who have turned sderot and ashkelon into a one big warsaw ghetto,for its inhabitans,and who will bring another holocaust on the jewish people of israel if left in power. IDF,for g-ds sake and for the sake of israel and for the sake of the jewish people,PLEASE PLEASE,topple this government,and put them on trial for high treason,and if found guilty,march them in front of a firing squad

The Rabbis will lose credibility if they seek to enforce their own political choices framed as halacha rather than halacha itself.

liberal leftys telling good religious soldiers want to do, for Israel was always punished when there were too many zeidim, if they order you to something against halacha, should you follow the bad rules of the current State, or the religious nation to come in future? Why bother denying Hashem when you only have to deny your commander? Who is stronger?

end.

Shame on you! I went to the army here in Israel, does that make me less Jewish than you, Mr. Rabbi? Did you even go to the army? do you even have an idea what an honour that is to serve in the IDF and to defend the country? But of course YOU would not understand, because the only thing you do is be unemployed and live on other people's backs! You should be ashamed of yourself for preeching these things! Do you know what our country would look like if this happened???

Wow what a lot of rambling about the obvious! As a religious veteran of the idf I didn’t need no rabbi to tell me that if given an order that was contrary to halacha I should refuse it! Had any commander ever given me an order that went against halacha not only would I have refused said order and not been punished, chances are that my commander would not have been so lucky! Don’t believe me? Go research for yourself cases of solider for example given orders to “move a jeep out of the sun into the shade” on Shabbat… Really it’s a no brainer. Heck forget halacha, I mean any self respecting person would refuse orders going against their morals, for religious Jews it halacha, for chilonim it might be unnecessarily harassing Arabs by a machsom, and for extreme leftist its guarding the settlements. The last time soldiers tried to get off for atrocities by saying that they where only following orders, the world had them stand trial at Nuremburg.

'rabbis" orders and enlisting in the I.D.F.? The same for the "religious females"

We all need to distinguish between our beloved State and unspeakable government.

How can you suggest that all those yeshiva students who enlist in the IDF and give a whole 16 months (instead of three years) of their time (all combat officers if we believe what the national religious propagandists feed us) as opposed to mere secular boys who all try and wriggle out of serving and only do routine 9 to 5 jobs (wonder who all these combat officers are commanding????) don't serve the country. Their service is sooooo much more valuable than all others because they are obeying their rabbi's orders. Then there are the religious girls who seem to regard one year national service (which some secular girls and boys do in addition to the army) as the same a s two years in the army. Those few religious girls who do enlist insist on wearing floor length skirts. Even my haredia neighbour who is well into her fifities and (like me) is built more for a burka than a bikini doesn't wear skirts that long. Just so we know how virtuous they are being by joining us "silent majority". Mustn't forget how grateful we must be.

See the Rambam, hilchot melachim, 3rd chapter, halacha 9.

if the army violates your basic morality, you have the right to refuse. is it sedition to refuse an order to kill your mother? if the army demands that they attack jews and that is against halacha, then the soldier has the right to refuse such an order.

what fairy tale are you referring to that says halacha tells people not to fight on yom kippur? there is no doubt that a jew is required to defend the country any day of the year including yom kippur. quite to the contrary: while the secular government is happy to sacrifice the lives of a few jews for political expediancy (eg. sderot), halacha and the rabbis demand that every jews be protected and that we engage our enemies.

take your parasites n leave. they r protecting you too. and it is a waste of our time n money and their lives.

The leftist soldiers have been refusing orders for years. They follow their own "halacha" (l'havdil) from Amnesty International.

If soldiers really absorbed this wisdom and acted according to this brave Rabbi's words, the disengagement-expulsion-pogrom would have been averted and Hamas would not be in power today shooting missiles daily into Sderot and into major populations centers. Al Qaeda would not be at our doorstep, Gilad Shalit would be at home, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev would be with their wives. Jerusalem would not be on the chopping block. We'd have 10,000 less welfare cases and a stronger, more united, and effective army. I would even argue that the losses from the second Lebanon war would have been prevented. I pray they listen and act correctly in the future.

The truth is Zionist Rabbi Zalman Melamed is just trying to stir up trouble as he knows that time for these religious parasites who dont serve in the army is running out. SO by making a bit of trouble now might make the descision makers think twice. Nice try your holliness but the Israeli public isnt fooled. Abolish the TAL Law now

This headline as stated is off the mark, misleading and even inciteful. The point of the Rabbi's words is not that soldiers must refuse but that if, as conscientious objectors, they choose to do so they must not be reticent but openly declare their reason(s) ofd conscience, even at personal risk. More, he is emphasizing that this "taking a stand" is the very act of Kiddush Hashem that will merit and can bring about the needed intervention from On High.

we the religious are the only dedicated and upstanding citizens of the land of israel. we are the ones that will give our lives and our children for this country and the jewish people. we are the ones that were here way before the establishment of the state. we are the ones that will move from all lands around the world to come back to our homeland. the secular antireligious left wingers including olmert and his chamula are the saddest traitors among us. they have their own opinions about everything and try to bring down the state of israel by allowing non jews and antisemites into our country. the left and seculars children all leave israel and they promote it! i am certain that time will show everyone who the real patriots of the land of israel are and soon there will only be torah beleiving and observant jews who love G-d, His Torah and His people. The rest don't stand a chance and have no ideoligy

And now the disease has spread to the religious right. This rabbi is to be condemned for inciting sedition and mutiny, but it is the anti-Zionist and post-Zionist Left that established the precedent.

In answer to the good rabbi: Mordechi would jump for joy to be in a Jewish state. He would proudly salute the Jewish president and not have to worry about bowing down to a foreign king. What Rabbi Melamed teaches is plain mutiny; something that Israel could ill afford. Halacha is not written in stone; it requires interpretation. Who will interpret? Rabbi Melamed , of course.