Gaza war rabbinical edict draws protest in Israel
Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:57am EST

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's chief military chaplain distributed a booklet to soldiers fighting in the Gaza conflict containing a rabbinical edict against showing mercy to enemies, an Israeli human rights group said on Monday.

 

The group, Yesh Din, which says it is dedicated to defending human rights in territory occupied by Israel, called on Defense Minister Ehud Barak to dismiss the chief chaplain, Rabbi Avichai Rontzki, who holds the rank of brigadier general.

 

A booklet handed out by Rontzki during the offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip quotes an ultra-nationalist Israeli rabbi saying that showing mercy toward a "cruel enemy" was "terribly immoral" and advising soldiers they were fighting "murderers."

 

Yesh Din said the rabbi's message could have been interpreted by soldiers as a call to act outside the confines of the international laws of warfare.

 

International calls to investigate Israel over alleged war crimes during its 22-day offensive against Gaza prompted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday to promise military personnel state protection from foreign prosecution.

 

Israel faced global criticism over its assaults in densely populated areas of Gaza, where medical officials put the Palestinian death toll at 1,300, including some 700 civilians.

 

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed during the campaign Israel launched with the declared aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks on its south.

 

Hamas clerics have often called for Israeli blood to be spilled. The Islamist militant group carried out dozens of suicide bombings in Israel before and during a Palestinian uprising that erupted in 2000.

 

An Israeli spokesman had no immediate comment on the booklet, written by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, a main figure in the Jewish settler movement in the occupied West Bank. A photo of its title page, appeared in Israel's left-leaning Haaretz newspaper on Monday.

 

(Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Katie Nguyen)

© Thomson Reuters 2008.

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Israeli army censures officer over "no mercy" call

JERUSALEM, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had reprimanded an officer behind the distribution of a booklet during the Gaza war that advised soldiers against showing any mercy to enemies.

 

An Israeli rights group, Yesh Din, called on Monday for the dismissal of the chief military rabbi, Brigadier-General Avichai Rontzki, saying he had authorised the booklet, written by a civilian rabbi who advocates Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

 

But the military, in a statement, said Rontzki had not seen the booklet before its distribution and had not approved it.

 

The booklet told soldiers to show no mercy because they were fighting a "cruel enemey" and "murderers". Israel launched the 22-day offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with the declared aim of ending cross-border rocket attacks.

 

In its statement, the military said the officer responsible for distributing the booklet was "severely reprimanded", but gave no further details.

 

The statement described the publication's distribution as an isolated incident stemming from the intense pressure of working around the clock during combat operations.

 

Yesh Din said the booklet's message could have been interpreted by soldiers as a call to act outside the confines of the international laws of warfare.

 

"Rontzki views these deviations as being very serious, in particular due to the fact that they may cause divisions within the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)," the military statement said.

 

Some 1,300 Palestinians, including 700 civilians, were killed during the military campaign, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip. Israel put its own deathtoll at 10 soldiers and three civilians. (Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Louise Ireland)