They chose them because they have been vilified by their very leadership. Both political and rabbinic. They are constantly told that it isn’the army that protects them. It is the Torah study in Yeshivos that does. They survive despite the evil army. It is an army of Satan. They are taught the sole purpose of mandatory army service is is to destroy the Yiddishkeit of their young recruits. So that anyone who joins the army has by definition joined them in that cause.
These hooligans did not make this attitude up. They get it from their leaders. And they believe it. That they go too far by any standard of decency – is seen by them as simply backing up their views with action! That others condemn them is seen by them as noting more than fodder for public consumption – believing that underneath that condemnation rests tacit approval.
And why shouldn’t they believe it, if they are never penalized for what they do? Once they are finished with their deed, they go home and get on with their lives as though nothing happened. Walking the streets of Meah Shearim with impunity.
Who is really at fault here? True – the perpetrators are the ones primarily at fault. One must take responsibility for one’s actions. It behooves the government to pull out all the stops to see justice done. They should be captured, arrested, and tried for their crimes. If convicted, thrown in prison with maximum sentences. But condemning them as Aryeh Deri did (as have other Charedi leaders and politicians) is not enough. If it isn’t followed by serious consequences it is tantamount to encouraging them to continue.
The Charedi leadership must own up to their responsibility in this. They have to accept blame for creating a climate where hooligans like this can take advantage of it and claim some sort of moral justification. And then walk away with impunity. Verbal condemnations such as the one Aryeh Deri came out with are not enough. It is worthless unless it is flowed up with action.
As long as these miscreants can do as they please while bystanders do nothing and religious leaders do little more than pay lip service condemnation… and as long as religious leaders and their politicians in the Kenesset continue to speak in such negative terms about the government and the army referring to it as a place where Jews are routinely disabused of their Yiddishkeit, nothing will change.