Promiscuous IDF is unworthy of divine assistance, minister says
Statement follows recanting of an earlier statement concerning soldiers' lack of prayer
Interior Minister Eli Yishai of Shas called the IDF “corrupt” and “promiscuous” in a statement that was set to be published last Friday in a party publication, according to a Channel 10 report the day before.
The report added that as a consequence of the station’s investigation, the article was withdrawn from the journal and its author suspended.
“The IDF is a corrupt, promiscuous army and so does not receive assistance from above,” Yishai was reported to have said. “For over a decade, the Israeli army has pushed national religious religious soldiers who refuse to hear women singing into a tight spot … the most elementary fences of modesty have completely broken down on IDF bases.”
There was an uproar earlier this month after Yishai drew a connection between Israel’s shortcomings in the Second Lebanon War and soldiers’ lack of prayer. The minister later issued an apology.