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<h1 id="reader-title">Meet the Israeli army's misogynist chief
rabbi</h1>
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<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/david-sheen"
typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label
skos:prefLabel" datatype="">David Sheen</a></span> -
<span class="field field-publisher"></span><span
class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single" property="dc:date"
datatype="xsd:dateTime"
content="2016-07-25T18:12:00+00:00">25 July 2016</span></span><br>
</p>
<p>The rabbi newly appointed to the Israeli army’s top
religious post has made a long list of racist and
misogynist edicts over the years, including one
permitting Jewish soldiers to rape non-Jewish women
during wartime.</p>
<p>The elevation of Colonel Eyal Karim to the rank of
brigadier general and the position of chief rabbi was
thrown into question after his past controversial
statements were reported by Israeli media. After holding
a private meeting with Karim, however, Israel’s chief of
staff Gadi Eizenkot publicly proclaimed that he would <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.730678">support the
appointment</a>.</p>
<p>Once he is military chief rabbi, Karim will be
responsible for making decisions with regards to
religious matters in the armed forces. Karim currently
serves as the second-highest ranking religious official
in the Israeli army. His nomination to the top post has
received the <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.730557">support
of the State of Israel’s two chief rabbis</a> and <a
href="http://www.93fm.co.il/radio/329915/">Defense
Minister Avigdor Liberman</a>.</p>
<p>Comments Karim made in 2003 when he was a civilian
resurfaced after his appointment. In a column called
“Ask the Rabbi” at Kipa.co.il, a popular Hebrew-language
website catering to religious Jews, Karim responded to a
number of anonymous letters inquiring about
specificities of Jewish religious law, including a
question about rape in times of war.</p>
<p>“Is it allowed nowadays for an IDF [Israeli army]
soldier, for example, to rape girls during battle, or is
such a thing forbidden?” Karim was asked. He <a
href="http://www.kipa.co.il/ask/show/17251-%D7%99%D7%A4%D7%AA%20%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%90%D7%A8%20%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150811630815457_31584592_10151461095585457#f1c4c8e594">answered</a>:
“Even though fraternizing with a gentile woman is a very
serious matter, it was permitted during wartime … the
Torah permitted the individual to satisfy the evil
urge.”</p>
<p>Karim’s comments first attracted notice in 2012, when
dissident Israeli journalist <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israeli-dissident-ordered-submit-facebook-posts-military-censor">Yossi
Gurvitz</a> <a
href="http://972mag.com/idf-colonel-rabbi-implies-rape-is-permitted-in-war/39535/">first
published</a> them in English at <em>+972 Magazine</em>.
Gurvitz says that when he asked the military to comment
on Karim’s statements, he was <a
href="http://972mag.com/idf-colonel-rabbi-implies-rape-is-permitted-in-war/39535/">rebuked
by an army spokesperson</a> and told that his query
“disrespects the IDF, the State of Israel and the Jewish
religion.”</p>
<h2>Public retraction</h2>
<p>The day after Gurvitz’ article appeared on <em>+972</em>,
Karim published a letter at Kipa, reported by Gurvitz, <a
href="http://972mag.com/why-we-refuse-to-believe-certain-abominations-of-jewish-law/39686/">attempting
to walk back</a> his 2003 religious ruling sanctioning
rape: “It is clear that in our times … this ruling is
certainly not to be acted on.”</p>
<p>The military seemed to be satisfied with Karim’s
disavowal of his previous edict; he continued to serve
as the army’s second-highest religious official for the
next four years. But the announcement that he was to be
promoted to army chief rabbi elicited another round of
outrage, as well as a more thorough examination of his
previously published opinions.</p>
<p>In his Kipa column, Karim has promoted <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.730532">burning
Christian bibles, killing wounded “terrorists”</a> and
<a
href="http://www.kipa.co.il/ask/show/17885-%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%99-%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%95%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9D">torturing
captives</a>, stating: “Terrorists should not be
treated as human beings, because they are animals.”</p>
<p>In one of his responses, Karim called for the
transformation of the state into a Jewish monarchy and a
<a
href="http://www.kipa.co.il/ask/show/32906-%D7%97%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A9-%D7%A2%D7%91%D7%95%D7%93%D7%94-%D7%91%D7%91%D7%99%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%93%D7%A9">genocide
against the people of “Amalek.”</a> The Amalek people
mentioned in the Torah are not known to have any
modern-day descendants, but some rabbis attribute their
bloodline to Israel’s current enemies, dooming them to a
divinely commanded death sentence.</p>
<p>Karim also ruled that the court testimony of females
cannot be relied upon, because of their supposedly “<a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.730678">sentimental</a>”
nature. He also ruled that Jewish men in the Israeli
army may not serve under the command of a woman, as this
would require them <a
href="http://www.kipa.co.il/ask/show/32906-%D7%97%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A9-%D7%A2%D7%91%D7%95%D7%93%D7%94-%D7%91%D7%91%D7%99%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%93%D7%A9">to
gaze upon her</a>.</p>
<p>Karim’s tenure as the second-highest-ranking religious
official in the military did not pass without
controversy.</p>
<p>In 2013, he produced a booklet for Israeli soldiers
which effectively asserts that <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.730326">Jewish
supremacy was divinely ordained</a> and that this
would always overrule the laws of democracy. The booklet
states: “The concept that non-Jews have equal rights
with Jews in Israel goes against the opinion of the
Torah, and the state’s representatives have no authority
to act against the Torah’s will.” The army later
apologized for the book’s contents.</p>
<p>When Karim’s impending appointment was made public this
month and the rabbi began to draw renewed criticism for
his past comments, his detractors were again accused of
“anti-Semitism” — and even of fabricating a “blood
libel” — in an <a
href="http://www.israelhayom.co.il/opinion/396719">op-ed
by columnist Dror Eydar in <em>Israel Hayom</em></a>,
the highest-circulation newspaper in the country.</p>
<h2>Threats of rape as instrument of oppression</h2>
<p>Karim’s defenders insist that his comments on rape were
misunderstood and that he couldn’t possibly have
permitted sexual assaults against Palestinian women. But
threats of rape have been wielded by Israeli occupation
forces against Palestinians.</p>
<p>In June 2014, Bar-Ilan University professor Mordechai
Kedar publicly suggested that Israeli forces dissuade
Palestinians from taking up arms by <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rania-khalek/israeli-government-promotes-rape-advocate-expert-palestinians">threatening
the rape of their female relatives</a>. The military
seems to have quickly <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-tortures-prisoners-captured-gaza-invasion/13861">adopted
Kedar’s doctrine</a>; Palestinians taken captive that
same summer during Isreal’s assault on Gaza say they
were threatened with the rape of their wives.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, a lawyer representing Palestinian
journalist <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/muhammad-al-qiq">Muhammad
al-Qiq</a> said that while Israel detained al-Qiq for
months without charge, his captors <a
href="http://mondoweiss.net/2016/02/israeli-interrogators-threatened-to-rape-al-qiq-and-his-family-so-he-launched-hunger-strike/">threatened
to rape him, his wife and their children</a> unless he
confessed to crimes. Al-Qiq was only released <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/hunger-striker-muhammad-al-qiq-welcomed-home">after
refusing food for 94 days</a>.</p>
<p>Actual sexual assaults of Palestinian men, women and
children by Israeli soldiers are not unheard of. During
the early years of the state, <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/i-saw-fit-to-remove-her-from-the-world-1.104034">soldier
sex attacks</a> on Palestinians were common enough
that they were a <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.712125">source
of consternation</a> for Israel’s first prime
minister, <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/david-ben-gurion">David
Ben-Gurion</a>. At a government meeting in 1951,
speaking about army attacks on Palestinians, he
declared, “I know some of the crimes, and I must say the
situation is frightening in two areas: acts of murder
and acts of rape.”</p>
<p>In recent years, Amira Hass, correspondent for the Tel
Aviv newspaper <em>Haaretz</em>, and the Israeli
investigative journalist who goes by the pseudonym
Eishton have reported on incidents in which Israeli
soldiers allegedly <a
href="https://eishton.wordpress.com/2014/05/03/the_scot-free_penal_system/#C50">raped</a>
and <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/the-connection-between-a-pulitzer-winning-photojournalist-and-a-palestinian-housekeeper-1.399546">sexually
assaulted</a> Palestinian females. And testimonies
obtained by the Public Committee Against Torture in
Israel show that Palestinian men and boys held in
Israeli custody have also been <a
href="http://www.rhm-elsevier.com/article/S0968-8080%2815%2900096-8/abstract">subjected
to sexual threats and sexual abuse</a>.</p>
<h2>Sexual violence common</h2>
<p>Recent high-profile cases reveal the pervasiveness of
rape culture in Israel.</p>
<p>In April, an Israeli investigative news program
revealed that the late Israeli cabinet minister <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.714662">Rehavam
Ze’evi was a serial rapist</a> and sexual predator
during his decorated army service, in which he reached
the rank of general.</p>
<p>Last week, a currently serving brigadier general who
had been slated for promotion was indicted for <a
href="http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/IDF-indicts-top-general-for-rape-shaking-top-echelons-462050">rape
and sexual assault</a> against multiple female
soldiers. The following day, his former commander told
Israeli army radio that the accused rapist is a “<a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.732873">hero</a>”
and cited the Torah in defense of his alleged actions.</p>
<p>Admittedly, the Israeli army is taking steps to stem
the rate of sex assaults, or at least those occurring
within its ranks. Until just four months ago, victims of
sex attacks in the army would have to shell out for
their own legal costs, while alleged attackers would
have all their legal fees paid for. Under a new policy,
the army will pay the legal fees of <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.706973">both
accused and accuser</a>.</p>
<p>In February, the army chief’s advisor on women’s
affairs sent a letter to all Israeli soldiers calling
upon them to <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.700757">stop
printing out regalia</a> that includes images and
messages that objectify women and make light of rape.</p>
<p>The army also makes mandatory for all incoming draftees
an instructional workshop on the topic of sexual
assault. However, after ultra-Orthodox soldiers angrily
objected to the sexual content of the workshop, the army
buckled and <a
href="http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4604138,00.html">granted
exemptions to religious troops</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Israel’s police force in recent years has
seen a <a
href="http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/netanyahu-falsely-accuses-palestinian-youths-rape-while-ignoring-sexual-assault">massive
epidemic</a> of sex crime allegations against top
cops. In May, the <em>Times of Israel</em> <a
href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/cop-found-guilty-of-sexual-harassment-to-be-promoted/">reported</a>:</p>
<p>“The past few years have seen a string of sexual
misconduct cases involving top police officers, many of
whom were forced to retire due to the allegations
against them. In all, about half of the Israel Police’s
major generals — the highest rank below that of the
police commissioner — have been accused of such abuse,
and many of them have stepped down.”</p>
<p>In 2013, after Nisso Shaham, the Jerusalem chief of
police, was indicted for sexual harassment against
several women, mainly subordinates, he protested that it
was unfair to try him for these crimes. He argued that
his behaviors were “in keeping with the conventional
norms accepted by the police” and that they were “<a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.552561">routine
and common</a>”.</p>
<p>Instead of combatting sexism in the police force, the
top brass seems to be trying to sweep the problem of
misogyny under the rug.</p>
<p>Roni Alsheikh, national police commissioner and former
deputy head of Israel’s domestic spy agency the Shin
Bet, recently <a
href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/cop-found-guilty-of-sexual-harassment-to-be-promoted/">reinstated
a top police commander accused of sexual harassment</a>
and planned to promote another commander found guilty of
harassment (that officer <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.726409">declined</a>
the appointment after Alsheikh’s announcement provoked
outcry). Alsheikh also announced — on International
Women’s Day, no less — that the force <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.708671">would
no longer investigate</a> allegations of sex crimes,
unless accusers were willing to reveal their identities.</p>
<h2>Rape culture</h2>
<p>Rape culture is perpetuated by the country’s political
class. Dozens of demonstrators recently gathered in Tel
Aviv to protest plans to grant <a
href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4828819,00.html">early
release</a> to Moshe Katsav, the former Israeli
president currently serving a seven-year sentence after
being convicted of two counts of rape and other
offenses. Katsav has often smeared his victims in the
press, and has yet to either admit his guilt or express
remorse for his actions.</p>
<p>The case of another politician from Kiryat Malachi,
Katsav’s hometown, provides sobering evidence of the
nearly free pass that rapists are often accorded in
Israeli society. After mayor Motti Malka was charged
with multiple rapes, along with his son, his deputy
mayor and four other men, he <a
href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/plea-bargain-reached-with-kiryat-malachi-mayor/">reached
a plea deal with police</a> that saw him serve no jail
time at all.</p>
<p>In the end, Malka was not even forced to pay a monetary
fine because the Kiryat Malachi city council had
previously purchased a policy for “<a
href="http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000853784">sexual
harassment insurance</a>.” Just weeks later, the
council <a
href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/sex-offender-headlines-womens-day/">invited
Malka to attend</a> the city’s official celebration of
International Women’s Day.</p>
<p>The army is hardly the only sector of Israeli society
from which sexual assaults emanate. But rape culture in
the military is especially disconcerting, as its
soldiers have access to deadly weapons and the license
to use them. And now its chief rabbi is a man who once
gave Jewish soldiers sanction to rape Palestinian women
until he was shamed into retracting it.</p>
<p><em>David Sheen is an <a
href="http://www.davidsheen.com/">independent writer
and filmmaker</a>.</em></p>
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