The unit commander ordered the soldiers to shave - and reprimanded

Commander of the IDF field recently dismissed two religious soldiers serving in the unit the beard exemptions they received, and asked them to shave immediately. They refused - he decided to commission them and dismiss them from the unit immediately.


The commander told the soldiers to shave, after asking them questions about religion and decided their answers are unsatisfactory, the 'Machane' military newspaper published yesterday. Following their dismissal from the unit turned the soldiers turned to Major General (res.) Yitzchak Brick, and filed a complaint before him.


During the investigation of the incident it was found that the unit commander decided to cancel the beard exemptions while exceeding his authority. "The army command expressly prohibits the imposition of an order to shave a beard without allowing discussion of appeal to a higher authority, with the understanding that this action is not reversible," said soldier's commissioner.

"We expect the commander to avoid as much as possible bringing before the soldier the difficult decision to choose between obeying orders and religious beliefs and practices. I received the impression that the unit commander was too rigid, while intimidating, taking powers not granted to him and trampling on the rights and dignity of soldiers."

It was also found that the commander exceeded his authority when he decided to dismiss the soldiers, and managed the process in a quick and unorganized manner. "I am strongly opposed to the dismissal procedure conducted in this case, since this resolution is not subject to the officer rank of commander of the unit, which may be used as a suggestion only", Brick stated.

Following the complaint, Brick recommended the brigade commander to call the commander of the unit, to explain the failures of conduct and action command taken against him in accordance with his authority. Due to the severity the Commissioner attributed to the incident, he recommended that the complaint be filed in commander's personal file, so that policymakers in his case may refer to this information in the future.

He further recommended that the issue of dismissals of the division in general and specifically in the unit will be regulated and that in the future, they will be under military orders only. Additionally, it is recommended that there will be a special committee on behalf of the complainants, in which will be reviewed favorably their return to the service in the unit.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!