It was so important to steal Jewish homes, so important to steal Jewish land and give to worthless terrorists and only the IDF and Border Guards could be counted on to be brutal. Now the IDF understands it was betrayed by sharon and barack and until their is MORAL, JEWISH leadership the IDF is a crippled force.

B"H Thank you senior retired military rabbis! Now, how's about senior civil rabbis taking up this good and obvious precedent provided by your military colleagues and declare that any law or bylaw or action that is against the Torah is illegal per definition? Too much for your corrupt, secular-paid egos?

One slight snag in your plan to force your religious beliefs on non belivers is the fact the majority of citizens are not relgious and what happened in Iran will not happen here. It it obvious that this could be a start of civil war in Israel as that is obviously your intention to weaken the army , the very same army that protects land thiefs in the occupied terrotries. I for one cant wait for the fireworks to begin !

Who decides if an order is against Halacha? The individual solider is not a rabbi no matter how learned he is and therefore not equipped to decide if an order is against Halacha. Some Rabbis issue very biased and slanted Halacha pronouncements. Failing to follow an order during an operation could lead to the death pf another solider, or even oneself. There is also the problem of whose interpretation of Halacha does the solider follow, Ultra-Orthodox, Orthodox, Modern Orthodox or conservative. These rabbis seem to believe that only their interpretation of Halacha is correct, but of course being only human they are apt to be mistaken. This idea can be a very disastrous to the army and to the country as a whole and should be completely ignored.

i smell the jewish version of the state-within-a-state hizbullah model. that's all we need. but hey, if you can't defeat your enemies, copy them!

The cult should not override national security. Rabbis need to get back to teaching "Torah". When we elect them king, they can command the armies. Till then shut up. Treason should not be tolerated.

And Barak's move to appoint a new Rabbi from outside their ranks os absolutely the right move--get RID of this groupof yeshivas!

And Barak's move to appoint a new Rabbi from outside their ranks os absolutely the right move--get RID of this groupof yeshivas!

"Retired military rabbis".... get that?... retired... i.e. not working and probably with extra time on their hands. Of course they would never have dared come out with this declaration while they were employed. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you...

It is very simple. To order a soldier with any religious sensitivities to commit a sin by breaking the Torah is completely wrong and these ex-military rabbis are right to speak out. Violating the shabbat is normally acceptable when life needs to be saved or protected. Obviously often the army is doing just that. But to expect someone to violate halacha without a good justifiable reason to do so is completely unacceptable in a democratic society. It is not a question of observant people imposing their halacha on others, rather anyone who does not obey the Torah has no right to impose his or her lack of respect for the Torah on someone who does. This is a fundamental human right of conscience: keeping the Torah is absolutely imperative for an observant Jew, period. Please remember that many of our best soldiers are observant. Do we want to lose them by forcing them to choose between serving their country and G-d? They will cease to serve the army if we do. That is completely unnecessary: it is Barak who is moving the goalposts here, not anyone else as these rabbis have clearly pointed out.

B"H - I don't think you talk like this Avi because you are power-hungry. I think if you were maybe older and understood that "democracy" is the dictatorship of a few tax-consumers over the majority of tax-payers, if you knew that the so called "democratic values" you say you are ready to die for are actually Jewish values, if you understood that it is precisely those Jewish values and Hashemcracy that kept us alive over history and bought us back on to the beaches of the very Tel Aviv you are so proud of, and not your newbie Marxist-Leninist indoctrination, then perhaps your survival instinct would kick in, moderating your anti-Jewish zeal and you'd sing a different, less boring of a failed song. If you are a Jew that is. If you are not a Jew, please ignore this post.

This talkbalk, like others on Ynet only serve to emphasise the sheer hatred of the left wing anti religious for both Halacha and those who practice it. Such vemin only destroys and does more damage to us than any external enemy. How about showing a bit more self respect and respect for others in a more balanced view?

..SEEING MY IDF AND THESE RABBIS......OOOOOO THIS IS VERY HEART BREAKING ! i AM SICK..DEAD SICK TO SEE THE IDF TORN APART!

Most especially the Halacha defenders are making mistakes in their feedback. Judaism & Halacha preach the sanctity of life and any commandment can be ignored, not just the Shabbat restrictions, in order to save a life. The cynic who wrote about his idea of democracy is just that a cynic. No system is perfect, however, Israel is a religious oriented democracy and as such, no one can be forced to accept any degree of religious observance. Israel must be a country where all Jews are welcome from the agnostic to ultra-orthodox. The problem in the IDF is one of timing of a soldier’s refusal to accept an order. No military can tolerate refusal of orders during an operation. Religious soldiers must make their objections known outside an operation. Those who preach differently are instigating the destruction of the country as in the days of the first temple.

how to draw the distinction, all jes in the army are rabbis.It is hard to separate the jews from judaism and judaism from jews.This is just likje mount sinai. he went up to receive and that foot of the sinai they revolted with an idol. INSTIGATION, INSTIGATION AND INSTIGATION...I AM JUST SICK

All Jews are NOT rabbis. Rabbis are receive ordination after proper study. All of IDF is not made up of Rabbis, where did you get that idea from? In fact the IDF is made up of people from all walks of life and not all are Jewish. Halacha is not Torah, it is a Rabbinical interpretation of what is demanded by the Torah. Much of the rules were established in the 16th century by humans (Rabbis) and many believe that re-interpretation is need in this the 21st century.

the rabbis ? the unordained ? And who is instigated ? the peopel from all walks of life :-) the rule of the 16 century and the rule that aought to be reinstated in this 2010 is not the problem. It is the mentality that matters. G-d placed the brain between the eye, the ears just neary the brain too.The mouth to speak the TRUTH ! This is the Jewsih Problem. REVOLT and REVOLT ! Thank G-d I am not on board. I would have ordered an ARREST over the Ordained and the Self- Proclaimed Rabbis ! When I take action I dont care about the Halakah or Talmud when it comes to MATTERS CONCERNING THE NATIONAL SECURITY ! ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY ! THE WHOLE OCCURANCE WAS SPARKED BY THE OUTSIDE FORCES- I CALLED IT ESPIONAGE ! THE MINISTER OF DEFENSE IS TOO LENIENT, SO IS BENJAMIN NETANYAHU....GABI IS.....CAUGHT IN BETWEEN....i HAVE ONLY ONE MESSAGE....THERE IS TIME FOR EVERYTING...I FYOU WANT TO BE EMOTIONAL..AND I FYOU OVER DO IT..I'LL SEND YOU TO THE PSYCHIATIST,,,,IF YOU DONT CHANGE.....I WILL BOOTH YOU OUT OF THE ARMY ! HERE IN SINGAPORE WE WOULD HAVE DEALTH WITH THE INSTIGATORS SMOOTHLY....THE IDF LACKS LAWLORD AND WARLORDS ! AND THE MINISTERS ARE TOO LENIENT ! TELL THE INTIGTORS TO STAY OR PACK OUT- WHICH MEANS GET OUT ! BEN SINGAPORE

#7, #8. Know your facts. Rav Ronsky, the current Cheif Rabbi of the IDF came up the ranks as a military soldier, from the elite combat units. Barack's refusal to renew his appointment was a pure political ploy, to appear to appease the left. Rav Ronsky made it clear that he had no intentions to stay as Chief Rabbi and was planning to return to his prior Yeshivah.

To order the IDF or Israeli police to expel Jews from their homes is not only a violation of Halacha. It is a violation of every moral principle, religious and nonreligious. It is a total perversion of the very purpose of the IDF and Israeli police. They were created to protect Jews and their homes. Not to expel Jews. Period. There is no rational comparison between the patriotic refusal to expel Jews and the leftist refusal to protect jews and Israel.