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Israeli Army Rabbis Preached Hate During Gaza Assault

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 25, 2009 9:49 AM CDT
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(Newser) – During Israel’s recent Gaza offensive, an increasingly influential corps of military rabbis cast the conflict as one to “expel the non-Jews” from Israel, the Los Angeles Times reports. “This rabbi comes to us and says the fight is between the children of light and the children of darkness,” one soldier said. “The whole thing was turned into something very religious and messianic.”

Soldiers say the all-volunteer military rabbinate is radically nationalistic, proselytizing with pamphlets and fiery rhetoric. One commander said he had to tell his men “not everyone in Gaza is Hamas.” The problem is institutional, one rabbi said, arguing that the conflict “has to be fought with a rational religious ideology that takes into account the living reality of two peoples.”

Israeli tanks and armored vehicles prepare to cross into the Gaza Strip on a combat mission.
Israeli tanks and armored vehicles prepare to cross into the Gaza Strip on a combat mission.   (AP Photo)
Palestinian protesters throw stones at Israeli troops.
Palestinian protesters throw stones at Israeli troops.   (AP Photo)
An Israeli army Rabbi.
An Israeli army Rabbi.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 7 comments
bewilderbeast
Sep 10, 2009 7:27 AM CDT
So true. So sad. Hate is macho, you can do it with few people contradicting you. Preach love and you'll get weird looks and criticism. The saddest of all is, these people are - to any rational examiner - THE SAME. There is so little difference in their religions, their origins, their DNA, their history, their customs, their food, their EVERYTHING that the hatred is beyond tragic. That the rabbis and Imams preach it, and the politicians sell it, is understandable. They're self-interested liars and thieves. But why do the people fall for it?
bewilderbeast
Sep 10, 2009 7:23 AM CDT
So true. So sad.
OWLWOMANXXXX
Mar 26, 2009 1:57 AM CDT
No excuse for the massacre in Gaza...their drones and other weapons are among the most sophisticated in the world...and to say that they fired on civilians in error is a fabricaion....details are comming out of Isreal soldiers using Palestinian youths as shields and not the other way around....we had better wake up and not baby Isreal any more...she is leading us into a hornets nest....and we could be badly bitten...Isreal should face a war tribunal

 
Israel • Gaza • Jews • Palestinians • Israeli Army • rabbi

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