Military Rabbi Urged Troops to Show No Mercy in Gaza

Israeli human rights group Yesh Din is calling for the ouster of the 
military?s top rabbi, Brigadier General Avichai Rontzki over his 
messages to soldiers during the 22-day military offensive in the Gaza 
Strip. The primary concern was a booklet which, among other things, 
contained a rabbinical edict against showing mercy.

The booklet contains quotes from a nationalist rabbi which declares 
that showing mercy during the battle would be ?terribly immoral? and 
quotes a medieval sage who cautioned Jews not to ?be enticed by the 
folly of the Gentiles who have mercy for the cruel.? Yesh Din says the 
booklet could have been seen by soldiers as official encouragement to 
act in violation of international law? an important issue as the 
Israeli government scrambles to defend itself against accusations of 
massive war crimes during the war.

Another pamphlet told troops that the civilian population of the Gaza 
Strip was not innocent, and urges them to ?spare your lives and the 
lives of your friends and not to show concern for a population that 
surrounds us and harms us.? Over 1,400 Palestinians were killing during 
the war, a large number of them civilians.

compiled by Jason Ditz

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Show No Mercy to Gaza: Army Rabbis 

CAIRO — In the midst of the war on the heavily-populated Gaza Strip, 
the chief military chaplain gave soldiers a booklet containing a 
rabbinical edict against showing mercy to the enemy, the Yesh Din 
rights group revealed on Monday, January 26. "When you show mercy to a 
cruel enemy you are being cruel to pure and honest soldiers," the 
pamphlet ultra-nationalist Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, who heads the Ateret 
Cohanim yeshiva in Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem).
"These are not games at the amusement park where sportsmanship teaches 
one to make concessions."

The booklet was circulated among soldiers fighting in Gaza by chief 
military rabbi Avichai Rontzki, who holds the rank of brigadier 
general.

It quotes Aviner as saying that showing mercy towards the enemy was 
"terribly immoral" and advising soldiers they were fighting 
"murderers".

The ultra-nationalist rabbi is the spiritual leader of Jewish settlers 
in the occupied West Bank and he opposes any compromise with 
Palestinians.

Gaza…New Sabra and Shatila Gaza's Empty Coffins Gaza's Scary Nights 
Palestinian Holocaust Museum Israeli troops killed more than 1,350 
Palestinians, including 473 children, and injured 5,450 in 22 days of 
attacks.

The offensive also wrecked havoc on Gaza's infrastructure, leaving 
thousands of homes, government buildings, schools, hospitals and 
mosques in ruins.

Amnesty International has accused Israel of "unlawful attacks," while 
Human Rights Watch accused it of "indiscriminate" attacks that were 
against the rules of law.

Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert, who worked in Gaza's main Shifa hospital 
during the first weeks of the Israeli blitz, accused Israel of using 
the Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) that shreds the victims' bodies 
in pieces.

A coalition of Israeli human rights groups pressed for an international 
investigation into war crimes in Gaza.

Under international pressures, Israel admitted Saturday using white 
phosphorous, a chemical that burns away human flesh to the bone, in 
shelling the overcrowded, impoverished strip.

Hatred

Haaretz newspaper also reported on Monday that far right-wing groups 
were allowed to distribute pamphlets with racist messages on military 
bases.

"(We tell) soldiers of Israel to spare your lives and the lives of your 
friends and not to show concern for a population that surrounds us and 
harms us," read a flyer distributed by the right-wing group "The Pupils 
of Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg".

"As for the population, it is not innocent…We call on you to ignore any 
strange doctrines and orders that confuse the logical way of fighting 
the enemy."

Pamphlets also asked the Israeli troops not to heed calls for sparing 
the lives of the civilian population.

"Our enemies took advantage of the broad and merciful Israeli heart" 
rabbi Yuval Feund said in another pamphlet obtained by Breaking the 
Silence, a group of Israeli refuseniks.

"We will show no mercy on the cruel."

Yesh Din, the Israeli rights group, called on Defense Minister Ehud 
Barak to dismiss Rabbi Rontzki.

"The content of these notebooks includes political messages and 
degrading and belittling messages that border on incitement and racism 
against the Palestinian people," it said.

"Other messages can be interpreted as a call to act outside of the 
confines of international laws of war."

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