AG: Liberman can’t summon rabbi over ‘sexist’ comments
Mandelblit concludes punishing Eli yeshiva chief for disparaging female soldiers is beyond defense minister’s authority
Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has barred Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman from summoning the head of a religious pre-army academy for a dressing down over derogatory comments he made about female IDF soldiers.
Liberman had requested that Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, along with the other heads of the academy and hesder yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Eli, appear at the Defense Ministry this Thursday to respond to an ultimatum that would sever official recognition and funding from the institution if Levinstein fails to resign.
But Mandelblit ruled that the defense minister does not have the authority to discipline the rabbi or withdraw state support from the yeshiva, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.
Levinstein came under fire earlier this month after a video emerged of him saying military service drives female soldiers “crazy,” makes them unattractive and strips them of their Jewishness.
He had already been reprimanded for remarks deemed sexist and homophobic in the past.
According to the report, Mandleblit consulted with senior figures in his office, after which his deputy, Dina Zilber, delivered an opinion to Liberman saying he doesn’t have the authority to hold the hearing for Levinstein. In addition, Zilber told Liberman he couldn’t rescind Eli’s hesder yeshiva accreditation, as such a step would be beyond the reasonable measures to take in such a case.
The hesder yeshiva program enables Orthodox men to shorten their mandatory IDF service and combine it with time spent studying religious texts. Only officially recognized yeshivas are allowed to offer such programs.
In his March 8 speech, Levinstein said that women who serve in the army leave their religion behind during their time in the military.
“They recruit them to the army, where they enter as Jews, but they’re not Jews by the time they leave,” he said. “Not in the genetic sense, but all of their values and priorities have been upset and we must not allow it.”
“What happens if there’s a female company commander? This is a question of madness, it belongs in an insane asylum,” Levinstein said. “This is an Orthodox girl. Put aside those who are secular. They’re making our girls crazy.”
While blocking the defense minister from carrying out his threats, Zilber also criticized Levinstein for his comments.
“Rabbi Levinstein’s words are extremely offensive,” she wrote, according to the report. “These are painful things that damage and break the delicate and fragile fabric of Israeli cohesion in the context of the IDF, while harming the dignity and humiliating certain segments of society.”
After Levinstein’s remarks were broadcast on Channel 2 news, politicians from across the political spectrum, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, denounced him.
Responding to the outcry, Levinstein expressed regret for the style of his comments’ delivery, but refused to retract their content.
Liberman immediately called on Levinstein to resign, saying his controversial views were a “constantly repeating issue” that showed intent to incite against members of the Israeli armed forces.
At the beginning of the week, Levinstein published a letter to the academy’s students and graduates clarifying his comments and apologizing.
In the letter, he said that while some of his comments were “taken out of context,” the tone was “inappropriate” and that it “wasn’t right to denigrate” the female soldiers.
“I was wrong,” he wrote, even as he defended the idea behind his comments, saying that “women have been taken hostage by the feminist movement.”
Levinstein said he felt it was his duty to prepare his students for the reality of the IDF.
While a number of other right-wing politicians have denounced Levinstein’s comments, Liberman has been alone among coalition MKs in calling for his resignation.
The defense minister publicly clashed with Education Minister Naftali Bennett over the issue.
Bennett slammed Liberman for calling for Levinstein’s resignation, tweeting earlier this month that the defense minister was looking to do some political maneuvering at the IDF’s expense.
Liberman accused Bennett of standing up for religious extremism, saying the Jewish Home chairman wanted to “turn Israel into Iran.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
