A platoon commander of the Golani infantry brigade of the Israeli army, requested to be discharged from his position, saying that he cannot take part of evacuating Gaza Strip settlements for ‘conscientious reasons’.
The commander, First Lieutenant Reuven, who began his military service two months ago after completing his compulsory military service, will apparently be discharged in the coming days.
The Golani brigade of the Israeli army is scheduled to participate in the pullout during the second stage; the main task ahead of the brigade in this stage is to prevent pullout opponents from reaching the settlements slated for evacuation.
The Israeli online daily Haaretz reported that Reuven adhered to the rabbis calls, and decided to leave “because he is in pain over disengagementâ€Â.
Meanwhile, a senior military official said that the brigade ‘does not view this decision as refusal, since he didn’t refuse orders but asked to avoid being in a situation which will force him to refuse’.
According to Israeli military laws, a soldier in compulsory service must obey every legal order he receives, while an ordinary soldier can choose to obey, or refuse which will be considered a breach of contract, leading for his dismissal.
Recently, several commanders who are still in training were dropped from their training courses or voluntarily left the courses in light of their refusal and rejection to evacuate the settlements.ÂÂ
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Two cases of refusal to conduct evacuations of illegal outposts in the West Bank were reported over the past three years including one deputy commander of army paratroopers who was ousted from the army.ÂÂ
