During his clarification meeting with Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai on Thursday, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed explained that he relies on the p�sak halacha of the late Chief Rabbi, Shlomo Goren zt�l, who ruled soldiers may not remove Jews from their homes in Eretz Yisrael, expounding on the late rabbi�s Torah.

The meeting lasted for about 90 minutes, and according to both sides, it was conducted in a productive and respectful fashion. Vilnai reportedly expressed his appreciation for the hesder institutions and the highly-motivated soldiers, but told the rabbi that it the IDF cannot tolerate a situation in which soldiers feel there is another authority, other than their commanders.

It would appear that Vilnai was less than impressed with Rav Goren�s p�sak, informing the rav hesder must publicly announced their unquestionable loyalty to the IDF or face the consequences. The rav asked for a number of days to respond, and Vilnai gave him a deadline of Sunday.

(Yechiel Spira � YWN Israel)