Military

DATE=10/20/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= ISRAEL / REFUSAL CAMPAIGN / L-ONLY

NUMBER=2-319786

BYLINE= LARRY JAMES

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Israel Military / Religious Leaders at Odds over Gaza Withdrawal

INTRO: Israel's top military leader blasted some Jewish religious leaders for

urging followers to refuse to follow military orders to evacuate settlements, as

part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plans. VOA's Larry James

reports from Jerusalem on the row.

TEXT: Chief of staff, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon lashed out at the rabbis

who called for the disobedience. He says they put the Israeli military in

what he calls an impossible situation. He calls their appeal dangerous and

illegitimate. Speaking at a memorial service for fallen soldiers, Tuesday,

General Yaalon said that refusal is dangerous to us as an army, as a society and

as a state.

Last week, 60 rabbis joined former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira in calling on

observant soldiers to disobey orders to evacuate settlements. The rabbi issued a

religious ruling that said no government can give back the territory, because it

is God-given.

Orthodox Jews make up only about a quarter of Israel's population, but observant

soldiers are present in enough combat units to make a refusal to obey orders

significant.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to remove all 21 Jewish settlements from Gaza

and four small ones in the West Bank has sparked one of the most intense Israeli

political dramas in years.

Settlers and their backers -- many of them from Mr. Sharon's own Likud Party -- hotly

oppose the plan. Now, rabbis identified with the settlers are giving religious

backing to the opposition.

Analysts say even a small-scale mutiny could paralyze the army. Jonathan

Reinhold is a political science professor at Bar Illan University.

/// REINHOLD ACTUALITY ///

"I think the chief of staff is right to condemn this, although in most democratic

societies one sees conscientious objection -- people who don't want to serve in the

military -- and this is acceptable on an individual basis. What is threatening to

a democracy, any democracy, is an organized political campaign to refuse to serve

collectively, as a group, because of political objection to the actions being

taken."

/// END ACTUALITY ///

Some of the strongest opponents of the disengagement plan also oppose the call by

the rabbis for observant soldiers to refuse their orders. But they say the issue

is just another example of the bad leadership of Ariel Sharon. Rachel Saperstein

is a settler who lives in the Neve Dekalim settlement in Gaza.

/// SAPERSTEIN ACTUALITY ///

He has ripped the country in half, he has caused a rift in the army. He has

caused a rift in the Likud Party. He has done so many things that is causing such

misery in this country.

/// END ACTUALITY ///

Mr. Sharon will bring his disengagement plan up for a parliament vote, next week. Opinion polls show the majority of Israelis approve of the plan.

NEB/LDJ/ WD