Their company commander rebuked them, yet they informed him that they were simply unable to take part in such a mission. The commander brought the IDF rabbi of the Central Command, Rabbi Yehuda Vizner, to convince the platoon to obey orders. He failed to convince them to change their minds
The soldiers were reassigned from manning checkpoints surrounding Gush Katif to guard duty in the region with the mission of thwarting attempts by anti-disengagement activists to sneak into the Jewish towns slated for destruction. The soldiers told their commanders that they will refuse to arrest any Jews on their way to Gush Katif.
Rabbi Yitzchak Levy (Religious Zionist Renewal) said Monday that if he was still a soldier, and was placed in the situation of manning a roadblock to Gush Katif on the Sabbath – as soldiers faced this past Sabbath - he would refuse the order.

Read More

The lieutenant colonel, sent with his men to the Kissufim Crossing into Gaza, said that if the protestors get past the checkpoint, then he will be forced to inform his superiors of the mission failure. Then, he explained, the IDF command will be forced to inform the government that it failed in its mission to contain the supporters of Gush Katif.

Tuesday morning, the army decided to split its forces deployed against the anti-Disengagement protestors, leaving 10,000 soldiers to surround Kfar Maimon, the southern village where marchers are spending most of the day. Another 10,000 forces that were deployed Monday night were reassigned to Kissufim Crossing. They will apparently be backing up yet another 10,000 soldiers and police who, according to statements by IDF Brigadier-General Guy Tzur on Sunday, were to be deployed there. The soldiers sent to Kissufim have been equipped with nightsticks for the mission.

Read More

NATIVOT, Israel – Nearly 100,000 people have poured into a central meeting site several miles south of Gaza for a massive protest rally against next month's Gaza evacuation.
The protesters will shortly begin marching to Gaza to halt the evacuation, while over 10,000 Israeli police and soldiers prepare to stop them.
The Yesha settlers council last month called for tens of thousands to meet for a rally today in the southern town of Nativot and walk the 20 miles to the main entance to Gush Katif, the large slate of Jewish neighborhoods in Gaza.
The rally was called for 4 p.m. local time but was postponed when only about 4,000 people were able to get past dozens of makeshift checkpoints on the roads leading to the area.

Read More