New IDF Chief Rabbi on Further “Disengagements”, “Convergence” …

‘Evacuating Settlements Doesn’t Contradict Halacha’

Excerpts;

Incoming OC Chaplaincy Corps Rabbi Avichai Ronsky said in an interview this week that evacuating Jewish settlements as part of a disengagement or convergence plan is not necessarily opposed to halacha.

Although Ronsky has refused media requests for an interview, he agreed to be interviewed by a group of yeshiva students for Olam Katan, a weekly religious pamphlet distributed to synagogues nationwide.

Olam Katan asked Ronsky if it was true that “the central halachic opinion” among rabbis prohibited evacuating settlement.

Ronsky answered, “another central halachic opinion also holds that the responsibility for any evacuation is placed on the shoulders of the government not the IDF. The argument is complicated and will not be solved today or tomorrow.”

Ronsky opposed insubordination during disengagement from Gaza and North Samaria. Rabbis who opposed disobeying IDF evacuation orders argued that while the government was wrong in ordering evacuation, the IDF must carry them out.

Ronsky added that he did not know what he would do if faced with an actual evacuation, nevertheless, he decided to accept the position.

“… I decided that my decision should not be influenced by the possibility of a future evacuation that is only being discussed in theoretical terms.”

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has removed his convergence plan, based on unilateral pullouts from Israeli controlled Judea and Samaria, from coalition guidelines while negotiating to form a government coalition. Nevertheless, Olmert’s Kadima Party was elected based on a platform that includes the convergence plan and territorial compromises are widely expected in the future.

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