Most Har Bracha students likely to transfer to other hesder yeshivas
Defense establishment officials do not expect hesder crisis to spread to other yeshivas.
By Amos Harel and Anshel Pfeffer Tags: Israel newsDespite the shock of the Har Bracha yeshiva's expulsion from the hesder program, which combines Torah study with army service, defense establishment officials do not expect the crisis to spread to other yeshivas.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided to sever the army's ties with Har Bracha on Sunday, after the yeshiva's head, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, refused to attend a meeting with Barak to explain his calls to soldiers to disobey orders to evacuate settlements.
Unofficial contacts between army officers and Har Bracha students indicate that most would apparently prefer to transfer to another yeshiva and thus remain in the hesder program, which allows them to serve for only 16 months and then return to their studies. Should they stay at Har Bracha, they would have to serve a full three years in the army.
Barak had initially considered expelling another yeshiva, Elon Moreh, from the hesder as well, since its head, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, had also called on soldiers to disobey army orders. But after Levanon joined the heads of all the other hesder yeshivas in signing a letter condemning disobedience, Barak decided not to act against Elon Moreh. Senior Israel Defense Forces officers expressed support for this decision yesterday.
The Har Bracha yeshiva is soon expected to receive additional students from the extreme right who will replace those that opt to leave. Some of the students who leave Har Bracha are considered likely to transfer to Elon Moreh, which is similar to Har Bracha ideologically.
Barak has been criticized by some on the left for what they term undue hesitation over his decision to oust Har Bracha. But Barak believes this lack of haste was necessary to prepare the ground properly - including from a legal perspective, so that the yeshiva would not be able to petition the High Court of Justice to overturn his decision. Officials in the defense establishment were surprised to discover that no standard procedure exists for removing a yeshiva from the hesder program, as this has never been done before.
Defense officials view the decision on Har Bracha as one of a series of steps designed to enforce cabinet decisions and laws related to the territories. Barak first convened a meeting on the issue of rabbis preaching disobedience at the end of November, which was attended by senior IDF officers and representatives of the Justice Ministry. Barak has also been pressing for legal action against extreme right-wing organizations that have given cash rewards to soldiers who disobey orders.
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Ha'aretz readers should note that the vast majority of hesder student-soldiers are law abiding citizens who are well-disciplined when they don their uniforms. For the Israeli readers, the hesder men serve predominantly in combat units with many in elite units like duvdevan and egoz. They do not shirk from combat duty, nor do they disobey orders, nor do they show lack of discipline in the ranks. There were only two overly-publicized incidents and only one problematic yeshiva. The soldiers in the incidents were harsly disciplined, and the yeshiva in question was kicked out of the hesder program. Let's see some effort now against leftist groups that also advocate disobeying army orders and dereliction of national duty.