Feiglin's soldier son, booted from combat position for calling to refuse orders that endanger soldiers during riots

Zehut party chairman and former MK Moshe Feiglin gave full backing to his son Avi, a soldier in the Kfir Brigade who uploaded a Facebook post calling to refuse orders that place soldiers’ lives in danger so as to minimize harm to Arab rioters. Following the post, Avi was tried and dismissed from his combat position.

"My son Avi received 10 days conditional imprisonment and was removed from combat duties, but I want to tell you that he is doing the greatest fighting that is required today," Feiglin said in a response. "What he did in the last 24 or 48 hours, is the real fighting for the lives of our soldiers, for the lives of our next recruits."

"Most of those killed in the IDF in recent years were killed on the altar of a baseless ideology of sacrificing the lives of our soldiers for the benefit of a hostile population," Feiglin said. "This must stop. Avi understood this, Avi called it out. The amount of support he is receiving from all sides is simply amazing. I am convinced that many will follow after him, and together they will establish a clear, moral red line. They will return the IDF to us, to the people and its values, and we will not find ourselves repeatedly sacrificing our sons, our soldiers, for the welfare of a hostile population. "

Yesterday, it was reported that Avi Feiglin was dismissed from his duties as a combat soldier in the Kfir brigade following his Facebook post over the weekend.

In the post, Avi related how, several months ago during a brigade educational evening, a ‘Charuv’ battalion commander from the brigade had spoken about an operational “success” over which he had commanded during the period of Operation Protective Edge, near the community of Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion.

According to the plan of the operation in question, “The soldiers would manage the riot as usual, while snipers would be stationed at the entrance gate of Migdal Oz. When the snipers identified who was shooting at the soldiers during the riot, they would neutralize him with a bullet to the foot.”

Avi blasted what he called the “impotent” plan, concluding, “More than all the injustices in this story, I am enraged by two things: 1) We used soldiers as bait to ‘catch’ a terrorist, not kill him. 2) Standing in front of us is a commander from the Charuv battalion, now a special unit, presenting the events as a war story, as an operational success. That commander’s place is in civilian jail after being booted from the IDF, and so also for the whole chain of command that approved this activity.”

He said he intended to refuse orders that endanger soldiers' lives "in the name of political correctness," and called on other soldiers to do the same.

I am still a soldier in regular service, and any time my blood and the blood of my comrades is abandoned in the name of political correctness and the sad/warped value system of the general staff and the government - I intend to refuse orders every time I am called on to contain a riot, with all the accompanying consequences, until there is a change here.”

Moshe Feiglin shared his son’s post to Facebook on Saturday night, commenting, “Most IDF soldiers killed in recent years were killed due to preference for the well-being of a hostile population to the lives of our sons.”

“Instead of warning the population and calling on it to evacuate the area and then obliterating aerially, they send soldiers into alleyways and tunnels.

“Instead of marking a line over which one who crosses is cut down, they send soldiers to deal with civilians and get killed from afar by sniper fire.

“Instead of eliminating launchers of kites, they let the south burn.”

The IDF Spokesperson said that "The IDF views seriously condemns any call by soldiers to refuse an order. After the investigation, the soldier's commanders decided to put him on trial for calling to refuse to obey an order. Likewise, it was decided that there is no place for continuing his service as a combat soldier. The soldier was dismissed from combat duty, was sentenced in disciplinary proceedings and was given a punishment of conditional imprisonment.”