I am not writing this as a politician, a commentator or someone watching the war from a studio. I am writing this as a fellow simple soldier. Since October 7, I have been in Miluim in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Judea and Samaria. I know what soldiers go through. I know what it means to stand around for hours, exhausted and far from home, reminding myself why all of this matters. I know what discipline means, I know what uniforms mean, I know why an army needs rules, standards, and a clear chain of command. 

So when I tell you that the IDF’s punishment of a soldier for wearing a Mashiach (Messiah) patch disturbed me deeply, it is not because I think soldiers should wear whatever they want. It is because of what the punishment actually says. 

During a recent visit to a guard post in Judea and Samaria, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir noticed a soldier wearing a Mashiach patch on his uniform, in violation of dress-code rules. The soldier was sentenced to 30 days in military prison, also costing him his post-army benefits for the rest of his life. In addition, his platoon commander received a 14-day suspended sentence, his company commander was reprimanded, and his battalion commander received a formal command note. Four levels of the chain of command, punished over one patch.

To understand this response, you have to understand that the IDF has taken a lot of backlash recently about how it handles religious symbols. In the last few weeks, IDF soldiers were disciplined for desecrating Christian symbols in Lebanon: one case involving the destruction of a Jesus statue, another involving a cigarette placed in the mouth of a Virgin Mary statue. The incidents caused a major media storm as Israel is already........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)