Opposition leader Yossi Sarid (Meretz) called Thursday for the attorney general to consider bringing charges against Shlomo Aviner, a leading settler rabbi, who recently published an article in which he intimated that a soldier who refuses to serve in the territories can be executed by a commander for treason. Several hundred soldiers have refused to serve in the territories since the start of the intifada in September 2000.
The article, which was brought to light Thursday by the daily Yedioth Ahronoth, was published in the B’Ahava V’Emuna pamphlet that is distributed in synagogues. “We are in a state of war and it is forbidden to speak badly of the army,” Aviner wrote.
“Beware, the internal informer, beware the dissenter. Rabbi Naftali Ben-Zvi, the head of the Wolozin yeshiva, wrote that a person weakening the hands of the commander must die, because he is endangering the entire nation,” the rabbi wrote. He gave examples of Jews who were executed by commanders for treason, and concluded that a commander is allowed to execute a soldier refusing his commands.
fas·cism (fshzm)
n.
1. often Fascism
a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.
n 1: a political unit governed by a deity (or by officials thought to be divinely guided) 2: the belief in government by divine guidance