In a change of command ceremony this week, Brig. Gen. Eyal Karim assumed his position in the Israeli Defence Force.
In 2003 Karim commented in a column called “Ask the Rabbi” at Kipa.co.il, a popular Hebrew-language website catering to religious Jews, on a question about rape in times of war.
“Is it allowed nowadays for an IDF [Israeli army] soldier, for example, to rape girls during battle, or is such a thing forbidden?” Karim was asked. He answered: “Even though fraternizing with a gentile woman is a very serious matter, it was permitted during wartime … the Torah permitted the individual to satisfy the evil urge.”
Karim, a former special-forces commander, went on to become a rabbi specializing in halachic dilemmas in military life. Halacha represents the collective body of Jewish religious laws which govern the state of Israel.
The root of the Hebrew term means “go” or “walk”, indicating the “way” a Jew is directed to behave in every aspect of life.
Karim officially took his position as chief rabbi of the IDF Thursday evening after a change of command ceremony at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv attended by Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, the American Herald Tribune (AHT) reported.
Eisenkot lauded Karim during the ceremony: “The appointment of chief rabbi of the IDF is an extremely significant event in the army.” Eisenkot added: “I was convinced months ago that we are choosing Rabbi Eyal Karim for the job. He is the most fitting and appropriate choice for command and rabbinic authority in the IDF. I had no doubts.”
Following his official promotion, Karim took spoke at length, saying, “During this journey of thousands of years, Israel drew its strength and spirit from the Torah—all its laws, values and morality. These are the foundation stones of the Jewish people. David Ben-Gurion, who asked Rabbi Goren to be chief rabbi, understood that the army has to address a wide range of people without creating a splint in the army. He understood that there had to be a way for all soldiers to have a fulfilling service in the IDF together.”
Dissident Israeli journalist Yossi Gurvitz first published Karim’s controversial remarks about raping gentiles in English in 2012, according to AHT. In the +972 Magazine. Gurvitz said that when he asked the military to comment on Karim’s statements, he was rebuked by an army spokesperson and told that his query “disrespects the IDF, the State of Israel and the Jewish religion”.
Below is a sample of some of the other advice he gave on captured soldiers, reported by the Israeli daily Haaretz:
Asked, for example, whether terrorists should be shown pity, he responded: “Terrorists shouldn’t be treated as humans because they’re ‘animals.’ The rule that those who are merciful to the cruel will ultimately be cruel to the merciful applies to them.”
Asked whether it is permitted to treat terrorists “before they explode” (based on the argument that some inject themselves with the AIDS virus,) Karim replied: “Suicide terrorists who have been injured should be killed.”
The IDF Spokesperson declined to respond to Karim’s statements or the question of whether they were in keeping with IDF orders regarding behavior toward terrorists.
Eisenkot has stuck with Karim, after a rebuke and a public “apology” extracted from him that he “sees the army as the people’s army that accepts all recruits, whoever they might be,” and that “all soldiers serve fully under the army’s orders”.
No comments.
By submitting a comment you grant Free West Media a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate and irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin’s discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.