On Sunday, ahead of the Fogel two-year memorial ceremony in Itamar, Rabbi Ronsky, the Rosh HaYeshiva of the Itamar Yeshiva, and former IDF Chief Rabbi received a phone call from an activist youth who called to protest the inclusion of General Nitzan Alon in the Fogel family memorial ceremony.
Alon, who is the commanding officer of Judea and Samaria, is a controversial figure among many settlers for the rough relationship he’s had with them over the years, ranging from statements he’s made, to the numerous distancing orders he served to Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria.
The caller, who identified himself as Dov Morel, said that Alon had given Morel a military order preventing him from entering Judea and Samaria, and has done the same with 20 other teenagers. Morel said that Alon should not be included in the ceremony.
Rabbi Ronsky told the caller that Alon, like the commanders before him, is a rubber stamp, and the body giving the distancing orders is the Shabak, furthermore he’s done a tremendous amount for Israel’s security.
The two talked for 7 minutes. It was clear that the young caller was obviously in pain from what he felt was unjustly done to him.
The two discussed the Alon, and the Shabak-IDF connection and distancing order decision making process.
At one point towards the end of the conversation, Morel said that they [the activists] would be coming to the memorial ceremony to vocally disrupt Alon’s appearance.
At which point the discussion got heated and Rabbi Ronsky’s formerly calm demeanor changed and he told the caller that if he or his friends disrupt the memorial ceremony for the Fogel family, they would find their arms and legs broken by the students of his Yeshiva.
The audio of the phone call can be heard on HaKol HaYehudi.
The memorial ceremony was held without incident, and a new dorm building for the Yeshiva was inaugurated.
Among the speakers at the ceremony were Tzila Fogel, the mother of Udi Fogel, Chief Rabbi of Tzfat Shmuel Eliyahu, Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, and IDF Central Command Chief Nitzan Alon.