The IDF’s decision to imprison 16 soldiers for heeding the directive of their Rabbanim and refusing to board an APC with a female paramedic present sparked a wave of angry reactions.

Five of the soldiers were sentenced Sunday evening by the battalion commander to 10 days in military prison, and another 11 soldiers were sentenced to five days in military prison. Two of the five soldiers will be evaluated by an assessment committee before returning to combat duty.

Rav Dror Aryeh of the Sderot Hesder Yeshiva slammed the move: “This is unparalleled chutzpah. The defense minister failed to protect devoted soldiers from progressive madness. The soldiers are heroes; prison won’t break them. They are the pillar of fire leading the camp and will be remembered for generations as the true victors in this insane story. Their commanders acted contrary to halacha and contrary to orders. The ones who should have been tried are the commanders who violated the regulations.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday morning that he will demand answers from the IDF regarding the soldiers’ punishment.

“I support the Givati soldiers who insisted on their right and duty to serve in the IDF while preserving their values and beliefs and adhering to the Joint Service Order,” Smotrich stated. “The soldiers have the full backing of the Rabbanim and administrators of the Association of Hesder Yeshivas, who examined the matter thoroughly and with the appropriate caution, and stand behind the decision.”

He added, “I davened and hoped with all my heart that the IDF would come to its senses and avoid the need for my intervention, but since that did not happen, as the leader of Religious Zionism I cannot sit idly by, and I will demand answers from the IDF on the matter.”

“It is very unfortunate that there are those in the IDF who, exercising poor judgment, choose to directly confront the sector that serves and contributes the most, in a way that will only cause harm and damage public trust in the IDF,” the minister concluded.

Arutz Sheva, which first uncovered the story, reported that Rav Tzvi Kostiner, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Mitzpe Ramon Yeshiva, and Rav Shlomo Shushan, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Beit She’an Yeshiva, whose students serve in the platoon, instructed their students not to board a combat vehicle when a female paramedic is inside.

The Association of Hesder Yeshivot backed the soldiers and argued that they acted in accordance with the Joint Service Order and that soldiers who acted in accordance with it should not be punished.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)