The increasing extremism among Arab-Israelis has now become
apparent among Muslim clergymen who refuse to take part in
the funerals of Muslim IDF soldiers.
Stories of Muslim IDF soldiers who fall in the line of duty
serve as a palpable example of the Israeli Islamic
movement's reign of terror which pervades all of Arab-
Israeli society. Last week Sami Savar, a Border Patrol
officer from a Bedouin camp in the North, was killed by a
stray bullet fired by a member of his unit. Savar's body
awaited burial for several days due to the refusal of Muslim
clerics to conduct the funeral ceremony. All of the
religious figures the family contacted dodged their request.
Only through extensive efforts was the IDF able to recruit a
clergyman from the South to run the Muslim ceremony.
This is not the first time Muslim clergymen have refused to
take part in the funerals of fallen Muslim IDF soldiers.
When a Bedouin tracker was killed eight months ago at Har
Dov, his family was unable to find Muslim clerics to conduct
the burial ceremony. Only after extensive efforts was a
Muslim cleric found, a relative of the deceased, who agreed
to preside over the ceremony. That the military has not
appointed an official imam for its Muslim soldiers is an
outrage. No less outrageous is the fact that the State of
Israeli pays the salaries of these Muslim clergymen who
refuse to take part in the funerals of fallen Muslim
soldiers serving in the IDF.
The word on the street in the Arab-Israeli sector opposes
military service by Muslims, and clergymen are worried that
they will be ostracized if they take part in burial
ceremonies. It is not difficult to imagine how the media
would react if any rabbi were to refuse to take part in the
burial of a Jewish soldier. But when unfettered provocation-
against the State of Israel in general, and military service
in particular, has taken hold of the Arab sector and has
reached the clerical ranks, organized suppression is
obviously involved.
The IDF should set up a body analogous to the military
rabbinate to provide religious services for Muslim soldiers.
If the Knesset already has a mosque, why shouldn't the army
eventually appoint a Chief Imam?
