Dozens of Israel Defense Forces soldiers in the Duchifat Battalion - part of the Kfir Brigade, which, as a rule, is stationed in the West Bank - informed their commanders, after consulting with their rabbis, that they would refuse to participate in the evacuation of Jewish families who took over buildings in the Hebron marketplace.

The soldiers were not slated to evacuate the settlers-intruders with their own hands, but were going to be replacing Border Police officers who were being removed from their posts for the evacuation. Some of the soldiers explicitly announced their intentions to refuse orders, while others reported being stricken by various aches and pains that led to their being granted sick leave. Twelve of them were sent, under orders from the commanding general officer, for a disciplinary hearing. However, that is not enough; tomorrow there will be another evacuation, and more refusal.

This is the big test for Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. Over the last few days, Barak and Ashkenazi repeatedly condemned evasion of duty, but refusal is no less dangerous. Political refusal - and cloaking it in religious terms does not disguise its political nature - is a malignant growth in the IDF's body. Military authorities must fight it without compromise. Refusal from the right is no more acceptable or worthy of understanding than refusal from the left. If there is the chance of a political compromise that will lead to peace with the Palestinians, it entails the evacuation of settlements. An army that conveys weakness toward those who refuse its orders will not be able to be a reliable and skilled tool of those who dispatch it.