Chicago – November 03, 2023
The military of Israel has appointed a new chief rabbi, who, in a previous religious commentary, appeared to imply that raping non-Jewish women during wartime is permissible for Israeli soldiers.
Rabbi Colonel Eyal Karim’s controversial statements from fourteen years ago continue to be archived on an Israeli religious website, accompanied by a hyperlink to a 2012 clarification he issued on the same platform, wherein he reaffirmed that rape is strictly prohibited “under no circumstances” and that his initial remarks had been misconstrued.
Tuesday saw opposition to Karim’s appointment, pending approval by the defence minister from women’s organisations and a prominent female politician. They cited a 2002 response by Karim to an inquiry on the biblical perspective on rape during the conflict, which was published in the “Ask the Rabbi” section of kipa.co.il.
According to his reply, it was acceptable to “gratify the malevolent inclination by unwillingly lying with beautiful Gentile women” to preserve the combat fitness and morale of the warriors during times of armed conflict.
