Israel Weiss ( he, ישראל וייס, born 1949) was the Chief Military Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces serving in the position between 2000 and 2006, with a rank of Brigadier General. His predecessor in that position was Rabbi

Gad Navon Gad Navon (1922 – 25 June 2006) was the third Chief Military Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces. Biography Mimun Fahima (later Gad Navon) was born in Morocco. He was ordained there as Rabbi after completing the study of the entire Talmud. He par ...

Biography

Israel Weiss was born in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. He studied at

Mercaz HaRav Mercaz HaRav (officially, he, מרכז הרב - הישיבה המרכזית העולמית, "The Center of Rabbi ook- the Central Universal Yeshiva") is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, founded in 1924 by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Abraha ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and views Rabbi

Avraham Shapira Avraham Shapira ( he, אברהם אלקנה כהנא שפירא; 20 May 1914, Jerusalem – 27 September 2007) was a prominent rabbi in the Religious Zionist world. Shapira had been the head of the Rabbinical court of Jerusalem, and both a ...

as his mentor. Weiss was ordained in the

Harry Fischel Institute for Talmudic Research Harry Fischel Institute for Talmudic Research ("Machon Harry Fischel") is a Jewish theological institute in Jerusalem that specializes in training dayanim (religious court judges). The institute was founded in 1931 by the American philanthropist H ...

Rabbinic career

In 1976, he was drafted into the Military Rabbinate and served as a battalion rabbi, a brigade rabbi, a division rabbi, and the rabbi of

GOC Army Headquarters The GOC Army Headquarters ( he, מפקדת זרוע היבשה, ''Mifkedet Zro'a HaYabasha'', abbreviated Mazi), is a multi-corps command headquarters created in 1998, which amalgamates the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces. The curre ...

. In 2000, Weiss was nominated to the position after Rabbi Gad Navon stepped down. Weiss was present at the

2008 Israel–Hezbollah prisoner exchange The 2008 Israel–Hezbollah prisoner exchange took place on 16 July 2008 when Hezbollah transferred the coffins of two Israeli soldiers in exchange for 5 Lebanese militants held by Israel as well as the bodies of 199 militants captured in Lebanon ...

and remarked of the bodies that

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's paramil ...

released: "the verification process yesterday was very slow, because, if we thought the enemy was cruel to the living and the dead, we were surprised, when we opened the caskets, to discover just how cruel. And I'll leave it at that."

Published works

In 2010, Weiss released a book named ''Bedam Libi'' (lit., "In the Blood of my Heart") about the Military Rabbinate and his time serving in the army. He related that during the 2005

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan The Israeli disengagement from Gaza ( he, תוכנית ההתנתקות, ') was the unilateral dismantling in 2005 of the 21 Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of Israeli settlers and army from inside the Gaza Strip. T ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

lied to him to get his support. “I asked

haron Haron may refer to: *Haron Amin, Afghan politician *Haron Keitany, Kenyan athlete *Haron Koech, Kenyan hurdler *Haron Shakava, Kenyan footballer * Idris Haron, Malaysian politician *Ismail Haron, Singaporean singer *Tiago Haron, Brazilian footballer ...

'Why uproot those communities?' and he told me, 'Rabbi Weiss, I understand defense, right? I promise the people of Israel 40 years of peace.' Today I know that he lied to me.” Weiss expressed regret over his role in the disengagement, but he did not blame himself or others for having supported the plan. “We must measure things according to how they looked at that time." He also accused then Chief of Staff

Dan Halutz Dan Halutz ( he, דן חלוץ, ; born August 7, 1948) is an Israeli Air Force lieutenant general and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and commander of the Israeli Air Force. Halutz served as chief of staff in 2005–2007. Bi ...

of dishonesty, as Halutz fired Rabbi Weiss two days after dismissing rumors that he was about to replace him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Israel 1949 births Czech Jews Israeli generals Israeli Orthodox rabbis Israel Defense Forces rabbis Living people Israeli military chaplains Mercaz HaRav alumni Czechoslovak emigrants to Israel