Where is His Morality?

Haim Watzman, a respected translator, member of the Yedidyah Congregation in Jerusalem and the author of the forthcoming book, "Company C: An American's Life as a Citizen-Soldier in Israel", published At War With Themselves on Friday in the New York Times.


His point:

To those soldiers who say they will refuse orders to evacuate the settlements, I say: think again. Remember that soldiers who believed the settlements were wrong reported for duty year after year to protect them and to enforce the occupation. We proved we were loyal Israelis and responsible soldiers. Now it's your turn.

I sent off the following letter (which will not be published methinks):-

Haim Watzman's discussion of refusing to serve in Israel's army whether one opposes Israeli administration over the disputed territories or whether one cannot agree with the expulsion of Jewish civilians from those areas fails to make a crucial distinction.

Jews slated for removal from their homes never practiced terrorism or supported groups that did. Patrolling the territories to ensure security by an army and the removal of civilians from their homes is incomparable. Moreover, their expulsion is not the result of a peace agreement but is a unilateral move, unlike, for example, Menachem Begin's decision to agree to removing Jewish communities within the framework of an Egyptian-Israeli peace.

More important, though, is that if Jews can be expelled and transferred, will Arabs be next?

Is that not the moral dilemma a soldier and Israeli society need deliberate?