i like this article, i can sleep peacefully for some sense and sanity thinking Rabbis .: - ) I can brag about this in Dubai, ok i go now, my wife is baking something in the kitchen, it is 1 am, let me go a nd check it out, what is she baking. Time to check her out :-) cheers :-)

Rabbi Lichtenstein and his rabbis are still in denial about Gush Katif AND ITS HORRIFIC CONSEQUENCES. Have they not learnt yet that with regard to JEWISH LAW they are rabbis and not the army.

The IDF should stick to Israel's security and not to policework.That is what these Rabbis should have stated.

of course, it is very common in dictatorships to use the army to promote one political agenda over another. But the US and other stable democracies have laws against using the army against their own citizens. They know that it undermines the army's unity and its preparedness to face the enemy. there is only one answer - don't use toh army to evictg people. If the political establishment decides to evacuate territory, it must use a sprecially trained internal police force, NOT THE ARMY.

obey decisions made by the democratically elected governement . If they don't do it , the democratic State has to use all his force to have people to obey .

The assumption that hesder yeshivot that promote the idea that soldiers should obey orders when asked to expel or participate in expelling Jews from their homes are "moderate" is extremely irritating. Most people will take "moderate" as meaning less religious or more willing to compromise. A) They are no less religious than other yeshivot B) The idea of following orders in cases that violate yishuv ha'aretz (settling the land) has nothing to do with being less religious, or more open to compromise C) rather, it comes entirely from halakhic opinions, and is completely unrelated to politics and compromise. I'd prefer that you look at it as another fanatical system that people are uncompromisingly committed to, one which places far more weight on decisions of the nation over decisions of the individual. It's less insulting. Also, I think that their is a misunderstanding. The question seems to be phrased as "do they place the Torah above the army or not?" It is a ridiculous question! It is infuriating that it is even asked!!! The Torah is of course always above the army and the state! The reason why yeshivot like Har Etzion, Petach Tikva, and others are against disobeying orders in this and similar cases is because the Torah includes the army within it. There are halakhic reasons to listen to the army even if it contradicts a mitzvah. One is pikuach nefesh. There are others. However, you should know that each yeshiva does not have decisions to which all people that go there agree. In fact, the number of things that are disagreed about far exceed the number of things that are agreed on. When I say yeshiva X thinks Y, I am referring to the heads of the yeshiva and a large percent of the students. However, although their general philosophies are similar, the heads of a yeshiva will always disagree on a very large number of issues. The objective is never to agree, the objective is to hold logical positions that can be defended well with strong arguments from within halakhic system.