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Friday 20 March 2009

'You are fighting a religious war against gentiles': What rabbis told Israeli soldiers in Gaza war

Rabbis in the Israeli army told battlefield troops in January's Gaza offensive that they were fighting a 'religious war' against gentiles, it has been revealed.

An army commander wrote of the shocking command in an Israeli newspaper today - one day after it emerged that Israeli soldiers were told they could kill innocent civilians during the war.

'Their message was very clear: we are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle, God brought us back to this land and now we need to fight to expel the gentiles who are interfering with our conquest of this holy land,' the commander said.

The account by Ram, a pseudonym to shield the soldier's identity, was published by the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper in the second day of revelations that have rocked the Israeli military.

They were leaked from a February 13 meeting of armed forces members to share their Gaza experiences.

Some veterans, alumni of an Israel Defence Force (IDF) military academy, told of the killing of civilians and their impression that deep contempt for Palestinians pervaded the ranks of the Israeli forces. More