To sanction ideologically motivated refusal of orders by Israel Defense Forces troops is to jeopardize Israeli democracy, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Wednesday.

Last week 12 soldiers from the Duchifat infantry battalion refused to participate in the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Hebron in the West Bank.

"The severity of refusing orders is clear to any reasonable spectator," Barak said at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, during a nomination ceremony for the IDF's new head for the court of appeals. "It matters not whether the refusal is by left-wing soldiers or by rightists. The government elected is the only decision-maker in a democracy. IDF soldiers take orders from their commanders, and no one else."