IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir made an unusual decision to suspend all 450 soldiers from the Reserve 941st Battalion, whose members are graduates of the Netzach Yehuda framework, for the actions of several of its members.
The decision was made after a confrontation on Sunday between IDF soldiers and a CNN crew near the village of Tayasir in the Shomron, where CNN was covering the “illegal takeover of land.” A video of the confrontation shows the soldiers attempting to prevent the crew from filming and telling them that “all of the Shomron belongs to the Jews” and that they are “avenging the killing of their friend a few days earlier.”
An international media organization representing journalists in Israel and the Palestinian Authority claimed that “an IDF soldier approached the CNN cameraman from behind, grabbed him and choked him, slammed him to the ground, and damaged his camera.”
Following reports about the incident, the IDF issued a statement saying: “The behavior and statements of the soldiers in this incident do not represent the IDF, contradict expectations of IDF soldiers, and will be investigated.”
The IDF Chief of Staff later decided to dismiss the entire battalion. In a Zoom call, all the soldiers were ordered to collect their belongings and return home within 24 hours, until at least after Pesach.
The soldiers were shocked by the collective act of discipline, Ynet reported.
“It’s breaking, it hurts,” soldiers said. “You get called up five times over the past two and a half years, and now they spit on you and throw you out.”
“Why stay in the reserves? Why recruit Chareidi soldiers if you can just throw away the reservists you already have? What justification is there for treating 450 soldiers like this? Who will show up after an incident like this?” they added.
A battalion officer told Ynet that one soldier’s actions had led to punishment for the entire unit.
“There are many soldiers here who sacrifice everything, and this is a humiliating decision,” he said. “There is no comfort in sending people home on Erev Pesach. They know how to call you up when they need you, and then they spit on you.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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11 Responses
Does it not seem that the IDF’s “frum” units bare a growing resemblance to the American “Buffalo soldiers” (on the Jim Crow Era, basically Civil War through World War II), or the British and French “native” units?
They wouldn’t do the same with non-religious soldiers. Only chareidy soldiers are being treated like this. Good for them, so they can spend Pessach with their families.
How can Israel complain against Lufthansa and other airlines on collective punishments, when they are doing the same?
They should be happy to spend pesach at home!
Yeshiva World stays silent while these baryonim run amok in the Westbank harming innocents and burning villages. Any frum yidden who cares about being an ohr lamim should scream out in protest against such actions while defile yiddeshkeit and put yidden in harm the world over and undermine the standing of medinas yisrael. Instead Yeshiva world parrots the talking points of the rabid kahanist extremists. It’s time you take Yeshiva our of your name.
Wow definitely a “shortage “. At least these guys can enjoy pesach now without shmad scheduling
lol. this is absurd on so many levels, the most absurd being the title “charedi” for anyone involved.
“oh no, we have to go home for pesach! why the punishment? we sacrificed everything (our torah, our yiash shomyaim, our olam habu)!”
Haha. I like the frum battalions. Keep up the good work and replace the dumb zionist government. Showcase this to dumb Lapid as well.
They should have never joined this corrupt lefty army. What all Chareidim should do is attack all these lefty journalist or protesters and they will be forced to leave the army.
This is nonsense. The Zionist army is expressly designed to destroy the Judaism of its inductees and to convert them from Judaism to Nationalism (Zionism). Some individuals could still miraculously remain Jewish in that army, but there is no such thing as a “chareidi” battalion or anything of the sort. A “chareidi” class of priests in a Catholic seminary would make more sense than that.
Any normal Jew would be grateful for the opportunity to spend Pesach at home with their family/community, as all Jews should, with Hashem’s help. Yet these “chareidim” claim they are being “broken”, “hurt”, “insulted” and “humiliated” at being be sent home for Pesach rather than being in a shmad army over these exalted days of Pesach?
It doesn’t take a gadol haDor to see the clear hashgacha pratis in them all being sent home to be able to be Jews on Pesach rather than as Nationalists in that shmad army. SMH.
Nebech that these Off The Derech youth are in the irreligious army in the first place. Even if they have a designated OTD unit called Netzach Yehuda.
ujm
Do you have any other idiotic broad sweeping statements?