Shas MK Moshe Abutbul appealed to Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, demanding that he intervene in the case involving religious soldiers from the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion who refused to board a Namer armored personnel carrier for an operational mission together with a female paramedic.

In a letter sent to Katz, Abutbul wrote that “draconian and disproportionate” measures were taken against the soldiers, who were Hesder yeshiva students serving in a Bnei Yeshivot platoon.

Abutbul asked Katz to investigate the incident and the manner in which commanders handled it, and to ensure that religious soldiers are able to maintain their way of life and religious beliefs during their military service. He warned that conduct that fails to take the soldiers’ religious sensitivities into account could harm the willingness of religious and Chareidi young men to enlist, and asked Katz to take immediate action on the matter.

The incident began when a force from the Rotem Battalion was ordered to set out on a nighttime operational mission in a Namer armored personnel carrier. When the soldiers discovered that a female paramedic would also be participating in the operation, they refused to go.

The company commander spoke with them during the night and explained that it was an urgent, short-duration mission. Due to the urgency, the matter was also brought before the brigade rabbi, who permitted them to participate under the arrangements that had been set — but the soldiers stood by their refusal, and the operation was canceled.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)