After the recent Gaza war, reports emerged that rabbis instructed religious soldiers to kill Arabs in the name of God. Fundamentalism is being bred in the West Bank and the Israeli state is more than happy to support it.
The BBC reports that military rabbis are expanding their reach:
I visited an orthodox Jewish seminary near Hebron in the West Bank. It is one of an increasing number of religious schools that encourage taking the Jewish Bible to the battlefield.
All students at the seminary choose to serve in Israel’s combat units while statistics suggest less ideologically-driven Israelis are avoiding them. This has made headline news in Israel.
The 19-year-olds I spoke to at the seminary told me religious soldiers like them can make the army behave better and become “more moral”.
They believe it is their religious duty to protect the citizens of Israel, the Jewish state. The Lord commands it, they said.
The students’ seminary is built in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.