Just on my
way to my flight from Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, I noticed this cover
headline in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper front page:
"New
IDF Chief Rabbi: It is permissible to rape during war". Under that: "Col. Eyal Qarim has declared in the past "draft of girls is totally
forbidden" - and claimed that in times of war it is permissible for
soldiers to "have sex with comely gentile women against their will".
I have followed the case of Qarim for quite a while. In fact, some three weeks ago I drafted an article covering the history of Qarim's violent advocacy since 2003. Though at that point the story seemed not to be current, just yesterday those fears concerning Qarim's possible
influence were confirmed: Qarim was promoted from head of the IDF Rabbinate to IDF Chief Rabbi. Below is my drafted article.
The story of the IDF Chief Rabbi Col. Eyal Qarim and his opinions about rapein times of war is one that comes up occasionally in the media, as it again has done recently for example here, and cited on other sources. Lately, a contact asked me whether I could look at the Hebrew sources
and confirm that there is no mistranslation.
Front page of Yediot with Qarim appointment, controversy
I am familiar with this case, and not only is there no mistranslation as such- there is a continuation of the story which seems to have gained no local (Israeli) nor international scrutiny, till now, and I think it deserves it. In order to understand the seriousness of the whole story, a certain historical overview is necessary:
The story has mainly come to be noticed due to Yossi Gurvitz's article in March 2012 titled
"IDF colonel-rabbi implies: Rape is permitted in war", where he notes an answer that Qarim, not in uniform at the point, gave to a concerned reader of a religious publication called Kipa asking about rape in timesof war, opining that "prohibitions against immorality" are removed
during war. Part of Qarim's answer:" ar removes some of
the prohibitions on sexual relations, and even though fraternizing with a gentile woman is a very serious matter, it was permitted during wartime (under the specific terms) out of understanding for the hardship endured by the warriors. And since the success of the whole at war is our goal, the Torah permitted the individual to satisfy the evil urge, under the conditions mentioned, for the purpose of the success of the
whole."
This was noticed in the Sheldon Adelson owned NRG and on Mondoweiss, both a day after Gurvitz's post.
Gurvitz
was making the point that although Qarim posted his answer in 2003,
when he was out of uniform (Qarim had served as a combat soldier and
commander in an elite IDF unit), he was in 2012 a commander in the
military rabbinate, and considered for the post of Chief Military Rabbi.
Gurvitz asked the IDF Spokesman the following questions:
Is the rape of women during wartime agreeable to the IDF Ethics Code?
If not, why does a prominent military rabbi promote it?
If not, does the IDF intend to end the service of Col. Qarim, or bring charges against him?
How does the IDF Spokesman intend to deal with the anticipated damage
to its image in the international arena, resulting from Col. Qarim's
ruling?
There was a response, as Gurvitz notes: "Frankly, I did
not expect an answer, but surprisingly enough an enraged officer from
IDF Spokesman New Media Unit called me. His official response was that
Qarim was not an officer in active service when he wrote that ruling,
and furthermore that my question 'disrespects the IDF, the State of
Israel and the Jewish religion,' and hence his unit will no longer
answer my questions."
Apparently this exposure became a PR
nuisance for the IDF, so the day after Gurvitz's article came out, Qarim
issued a "clarification" on the same religious website, Kipa (in
Hebrew).
Indeed, the text of the Torah is worrying in its formulation. Let us have a look at it. This is Deuteronomy 21:10-14:
"When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God
delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive, and see
among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and
would take her as a wife for yourself, then you shall bring her home to
your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. She shall
also remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house,
and mourn her father and mother a full month; and after that you may go
in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. It shall be,
if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go wherever she
wishes".
Indeed, the section is somewhat confusing - because the
first "take her as a wife" that appears, and even more so in Hebrew
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