Senior rabbis may join call for refusal

Senior rabbinical figures are expected today to come out in support of the refusal to obey evacuation orders in the territories.

Former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Friedman will be among those taking part in an emergency meeting called to discuss the disengagement.

Participants are expected to issue a statement supporting the refusal to obey "a patently illegal order."

Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, son of Shas spiritual mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi David Druckman and other rabbis of the Pikuach Nefesh Rabbis' Association are also due to attend the meeting.

Eliyahu and former Ashkenazi chief rabbi Avraham Shapira are planning to hold a mass prayer session tomorrow in the government compound in Jerusalem. The two have announced their support for the refusal to evacuate settlements in the past.

Over the weekend, a group of rabbis headed by the Yesha rabbis' committee met in Jerusalem and stated that "the order to uproot settlements contradicts the laws of the Torah and morality." They also said "no help must be given to this anti-Zionist and anti-moral act. Every civilian and army man must express disgust from the thought of uprooting," they said. The rabbis also protested against "the prime minister's allowing the bloodshed of settlers."

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Professors for Political and Economic Strength (PSI), Ron Breiman, called on Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon to take off his uniform and lay his insignia on the prime minister's table. Breiman said the order to evacuate settlements is patently illegal. He said he is not calling for refusing orders, but there is no other way to define the approaching evacuation.

Breiman said the left wing's refusal to obey orders is several times worse, because the left wing refuses to fight the enemy, while the right wing refuses to fight their own brethren.

He said if the government ordered the chief of staff to deport 8,000 Arabs from 22 villages, he would choose to resign. Therefore, he should do so when he is ordered to do the same with Jews.

Major (res.) Mordechai Karpel of Bat Ayin joined those calling to refuse evacuation orders over the weekend. Karpel has already served three prison sentences for refusing to serve in the IDF during the implementation of the Oslo Accords.