The chairman of the religious Zionist faction, MK Simcha Rothman, contacted Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this morning (Sunday) following last week's publication of a presentation from a battalion commanders course (command and staff "Alon") in which a shocking comparison was made between the religious Zionist movement and the terrorist organization Hamas.
"Systematic incitement against an entire sector"
According to MK Rothman: "The IDF spokesman confirmed the correctness of the publication and disavowed what was shown in the slide, but that is not enough. It is impossible to describe the intensity of moral degradation and the fierceness required to produce this inciting content, and to present it in front of the future command avenue of the IDF, which is largely composed of members of religious Zionism itself."
"This raises the question of whether this is just the tip of the iceberg of a phenomenon with wider and deeper dimensions, of systematic incitement against an entire, contributing and leading sector in the State of Israel, and as mentioned also in the IDF itself in significant combat and command service positions," MK Rothman said.
The member of the Knesset from Religious Zionism signed his appeal with the demand: "As the Defense Minister of the State of Israel, who is responsible for the honor and status of religious Zionist soldiers in the IDF, and in order to remove the politicization from the IDF, which primarily harms the IDF itself and the values of dedication and unity within its ranks, I call for a thorough investigation and drawing clear conclusions regarding those responsible."
As recalled from last week, it was reported that in a slide presented to IDF commanders during a lecture given at the University of Haifa for battalion commanders, the following was written: "From the beginning of the 1990s and until today, religious nationalism has moved from the periphery to the center and has become the new social, cultural, and political hegemony. This statement is true for religious Zionism in Israel as well as for Islamic Palestinian religious nationalism, which is primarily expressed institutionally, mainly within the Hamas movement."