Yeshiva heads slam jailing of Givati soldiers: ‘A disgrace’

Leaders of post-high school Religious Zionist yeshivas in Israel have thrown their full support behind soldiers of the Givati Brigade's Rotem Battalion who were sentenced to military prison. The soldiers were punished after refusing to enter an armored personnel carrier in which a female paramedic was present. The affair was addressed during an emergency meeting of yeshiva heads, who subsequently issued a sharply-worded letter describing the punishment of soldiers for observing Jewish law as a serious mistake and a moral stain on the IDF. According to the rabbis, the issue could have been resolved without disciplinary measures, and sending soldiers to prison for a halakhic inquiry constitutes disrespect toward Jewish tradition. The rabbis warned that the move severely harms the motivation and fighting spirit of the Religious Zionist community. Contrary to the IDF's position that this is a disciplinary problem, the rabbis stated that the soldiers were standing up for their rights and their Jewish lifestyle. The letter emphasized that the incident was not an act of refusal, but an attempt to adhere to IDF regulations in the face of what they described as the command echelon's violation of the Joint Service Order.