Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Israeli Military's New Chief Rabbi Implied Soldiers Can Rape in War,
as Government Lurches to Far-Right
________________________________________
Israeli Military's New Chief Rabbi Implied Soldiers Can Rape in War, as
Government Lurches to Far-Right
By Ben Norton [1] / Salon [2]
July 16, 2016
The man chosen as the Israeli military's new chief rabbi has previously
implied that soldiers would be permitted to rape women in war.
This comes at a time when the Israeli government lurches further and further
to the right, with what has been called [3] "its most hard-right government
ever."
Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim was nominated [4] for the top religious position in
the Israel Defense Forces, of IDF, by the chief of staff on Monday.
Karim was at the center of a media controversy in Israel in 2012, when it
was revealed that, in 2003, he suggested on a religious website that
soldiers were permitted to commit acts of rape during wartime.
"One of the important and crucial values in war is maintaining the fighting
preparedness of the army . and the needs and emotions of the individual are
pushed aside for the success of the nation at war," he wrote in his response
to a question about soldiers raping civilians in war.
"Just as in war, the fence of risk-taking is breached on behalf of others,
so are the fences of modesty and kashrut breached. Although fraternizing
with a non-Jewess is a very bad thing, it is allowable in war out of
consideration for the difficulties of the fighters," Karim continued,
according to a translation in the Israeli media.
"Because the success of the collective is what mostly concerns us in war,
the Torah allows the individual to satisfy his lust in the permitted
conditions for the sake of the general success," he concluded.
In 2012, when this statement was widely publicized, Karim insisted it was
misunderstood and had been taken out of context. He said he did not condone
rape.
Karim has also previously argued that women should not be allowed to serve
in the army.
On Tuesday, Karim released another statement saying that he opposes rape and
now supports allowing women in the military.
Left-wing Israeli politicians condemned Karim's appointment. Zahava Galon,
leader of the Meretz party, said Karim "is not suited to represent Jewish
ethics in any way, shape or form."
"His appalling, racist and violent statement [regarding women] would be
unacceptable in any instance of an appointment to a senior position," she
added, in comments reported by Haaretz.
Lawmaker Aida Touma-Suleiman, the head of the Committee for the Advancement
of Women's Status, warned that Karim could likely create more "misogynistic
interpretations of this kind."
This backlash led the IDF to temporarily reconsider [5] his appointment. The
Israeli military said it did not know about Karim's past statements and did
not do a thorough background check.
The IDF spokesperson's office, however, insisted to the Israeli media on
Tuesday that it has no intention to cancel Karim's appointment. On
Wednesday, IDF Chief-of-Staff Gadi Eizenkot made [6] it clear that Karim
will be the army's chief rabbi.
U.S. social justice group Jewish Voice for Peace, or JVP, expressed outrage
at the news. Rabbi Alissa Wise, deputy director of JVP and founding co-chair
of the organization's rabbinical council, condemned the nomination of Karim.
"The fact that someone who has encouraged the rape of Palestinian women, and
who holds such demeaning, blatantly racist and violently sexist ideas, could
be considered as a candidate for chief rabbinate of the Israeli military
speaks volumes about the lack of respect for Palestinians and other non-Jews
the Israeli government and society is willing to tolerate, his current
apology following public attention notwithstanding," she said.
"It exposes just how far the Israeli state has veered away from the ethical
underpinnings of Jewish tradition in favor of ethnocentric militant
nationalism," Rabbi Wise added.
In 2014, a similar controversy erupted when an Israeli professor and former
IDF intelligence official insisted that only rape can stop Palestinian
militants.
Mordechai Kedar [7], a professor in the department of Arabic at Israel's
Bar-Ilan University who served in military intelligence for 25 years,
insisted in an interview on an Israel Radio program, "The only thing that
can deter terrorists. is the knowledge that their sister or their mother
will be raped."
"You have to understand the culture in which we live," he added. "It sounds
very bad, but that's the Middle East."
Israel is one of the U.S.'s closest allies, and receives more military aid
than any other country in the world, by far.
Since 1967, the U.S. has given Israeli military more than $100 billion in
aid.
Every year, the U.S. gives Israel more than $3 billion in unconditional
military aid, and the Obama administration is considering increasing this
figure.
Israel's current government is the most right-wing in its history. In May,
former Prime Minister Ehud Barak warned that his country has been "infected
by the seeds of fascism [8]."
"What has happened is a hostile takeover of the Israeli government by
dangerous elements," he cautioned. "And it's just the beginning."
At the same time Barak made these remarks, former Defense Minister Moshe
Ya'alon resigned, after hard-line right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu offered the defense minister position to Avigdor Lieberman, one of
the most extreme figures in Israeli politics [9].
Lieberman was compared to ISIS in March 2015, after he publicly called for
beheading disloyal Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Explaining his decision to step down, Ya'alon, a fellow member of
Netanyahu's ruling right-wing Likud party, said "extremist and dangerous
elements have taken over Israel."
Ben Norton is a politics staff writer at Salon. You can find him on Twitter
at @BenjaminNorton [10].
Share on Facebook Share
Share on Twitter Tweet
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [11]
[12]
________________________________________
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/world/israeli-militarys-new-chief-rabbi-implied-sold
iers-can-rape-war-government-lurches-far-right
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/ben-norton
[2] http://www.salon.com
[3]
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/25/israel-coalition-deal-hard-rig
ht-government-avigdor-lieberman
[4] http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.730326
[5] http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.730438
[6] http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/214921
[7]
http://www.salon.com/2016/02/17/event_at_nyc_college_with_israeli_scholar_wh
o_said_only_rape_can_deter_palestinian_militants_postponed_after_protests/
[8]
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/21/israel_is_infected_by_the_seeds_of_fascism_a
nd_has_been_taken_over_by_extremists_warn_ex_prime_minister_and_defense_mini
sters/
[9]
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/19/israels_new_defense_minister_avigdor_lieberm
an_is_a_far_right_extremist_who_called_for_beheading_disloyal_palestinian_ci
tizens/
[10] http://twitter.com/benjaminnorton
[11] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Israeli Military's
New Chief Rabbi Implied Soldiers Can Rape in War, as Government Lurches to
Far-Right
[12] http://www.alternet.org/
[13] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Israeli Military's New Chief Rabbi Implied Soldiers Can Rape in War,
as Government Lurches to Far-Right
Israeli Military's New Chief Rabbi Implied Soldiers Can Rape in War, as
Government Lurches to Far-Right
By Ben Norton [1] / Salon [2]
July 16, 2016
AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Google+More
AddThis Share optionsShare to Email
The man chosen as the Israeli military's new chief rabbi has previously
implied that soldiers would be permitted to rape women in war.
This comes at a time when the Israeli government lurches further and further
to the right, with what has been called [3] "its most hard-right government
ever."
Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim was nominated [4] for the top religious position in
the Israel Defense Forces, of IDF, by the chief of staff on Monday.
Karim was at the center of a media controversy in Israel in 2012, when it
was revealed that, in 2003, he suggested on a religious website that
soldiers were permitted to commit acts of rape during wartime.
"One of the important and crucial values in war is maintaining the fighting
preparedness of the army . and the needs and emotions of the individual are
pushed aside for the success of the nation at war," he wrote in his response
to a question about soldiers raping civilians in war.
"Just as in war, the fence of risk-taking is breached on behalf of others,
so are the fences of modesty and kashrut breached. Although fraternizing
with a non-Jewess is a very bad thing, it is allowable in war out of
consideration for the difficulties of the fighters," Karim continued,
according to a translation in the Israeli media.
"Because the success of the collective is what mostly concerns us in war,
the Torah allows the individual to satisfy his lust in the permitted
conditions for the sake of the general success," he concluded.
In 2012, when this statement was widely publicized, Karim insisted it was
misunderstood and had been taken out of context. He said he did not condone
rape.
Karim has also previously argued that women should not be allowed to serve
in the army.
On Tuesday, Karim released another statement saying that he opposes rape and
now supports allowing women in the military.
Left-wing Israeli politicians condemned Karim's appointment. Zahava Galon,
leader of the Meretz party, said Karim "is not suited to represent Jewish
ethics in any way, shape or form."
"His appalling, racist and violent statement [regarding women] would be
unacceptable in any instance of an appointment to a senior position," she
added, in comments reported by Haaretz.
Lawmaker Aida Touma-Suleiman, the head of the Committee for the Advancement
of Women's Status, warned that Karim could likely create more "misogynistic
interpretations of this kind."
This backlash led the IDF to temporarily reconsider [5] his appointment. The
Israeli military said it did not know about Karim's past statements and did
not do a thorough background check.
The IDF spokesperson's office, however, insisted to the Israeli media on
Tuesday that it has no intention to cancel Karim's appointment. On
Wednesday, IDF Chief-of-Staff Gadi Eizenkot made [6] it clear that Karim
will be the army's chief rabbi.
U.S. social justice group Jewish Voice for Peace, or JVP, expressed outrage
at the news. Rabbi Alissa Wise, deputy director of JVP and founding co-chair
of the organization's rabbinical council, condemned the nomination of Karim.
"The fact that someone who has encouraged the rape of Palestinian women, and
who holds such demeaning, blatantly racist and violently sexist ideas, could
be considered as a candidate for chief rabbinate of the Israeli military
speaks volumes about the lack of respect for Palestinians and other non-Jews
the Israeli government and society is willing to tolerate, his current
apology following public attention notwithstanding," she said.
"It exposes just how far the Israeli state has veered away from the ethical
underpinnings of Jewish tradition in favor of ethnocentric militant
nationalism," Rabbi Wise added.
In 2014, a similar controversy erupted when an Israeli professor and former
IDF intelligence official insisted that only rape can stop Palestinian
militants.
Mordechai Kedar [7], a professor in the department of Arabic at Israel's
Bar-Ilan University who served in military intelligence for 25 years,
insisted in an interview on an Israel Radio program, "The only thing that
can deter terrorists. is the knowledge that their sister or their mother
will be raped."
"You have to understand the culture in which we live," he added. "It sounds
very bad, but that's the Middle East."
Israel is one of the U.S.'s closest allies, and receives more military aid
than any other country in the world, by far.
Since 1967, the U.S. has given Israeli military more than $100 billion in
aid.
Every year, the U.S. gives Israel more than $3 billion in unconditional
military aid, and the Obama administration is considering increasing this
figure.
Israel's current government is the most right-wing in its history. In May,
former Prime Minister Ehud Barak warned that his country has been "infected
by the seeds of fascism [8]."
"What has happened is a hostile takeover of the Israeli government by
dangerous elements," he cautioned. "And it's just the beginning."
At the same time Barak made these remarks, former Defense Minister Moshe
Ya'alon resigned, after hard-line right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu offered the defense minister position to Avigdor Lieberman, one of
the most extreme figures in Israeli politics [9].
Lieberman was compared to ISIS in March 2015, after he publicly called for
beheading disloyal Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Explaining his decision to step down, Ya'alon, a fellow member of
Netanyahu's ruling right-wing Likud party, said "extremist and dangerous
elements have taken over Israel."
Ben Norton is a politics staff writer at Salon. You can find him on Twitter
at @BenjaminNorton [10].
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [11]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[12]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/world/israeli-militarys-new-chief-rabbi-implied-sold
iers-can-rape-war-government-lurches-far-right
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/ben-norton
[2] http://www.salon.com
[3]
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/25/israel-coalition-deal-hard-rig
ht-government-avigdor-lieberman
[4] http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.730326
[5] http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.730438
[6] http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/214921
[7]
http://www.salon.com/2016/02/17/event_at_nyc_college_with_israeli_scholar_wh
o_said_only_rape_can_deter_palestinian_militants_postponed_after_protests/
[8]
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/21/israel_is_infected_by_the_seeds_of_fascism_a
nd_has_been_taken_over_by_extremists_warn_ex_prime_minister_and_defense_mini
sters/
[9]
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/19/israels_new_defense_minister_avigdor_lieberm
an_is_a_far_right_extremist_who_called_for_beheading_disloyal_palestinian_ci
tizens/
[10] http://twitter.com/benjaminnorton
[11] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Israeli Military's
New Chief Rabbi Implied Soldiers Can Rape in War, as Government Lurches to
Far-Right
[12] http://www.alternet.org/
[13] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
