Israeli military appoints rabbi who appeared to permit rape
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Israeli military has been criticized for appointing a rabbi who has disparaged female soldiers and once appeared to justify the rape of non-Jewish enemies.
The military says it summoned Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim on Tuesday over his past remarks after an outcry from lawmakers.
In a 2002 post on a Jewish website, Karim responded to a user asking whether Jewish law permits Israeli soldiers to rape enemy women. Karim said the Torah allowed soldiers to satisfy "evil inclinations" during wartime.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Karim later said he was not advocating rape, and the military said Tuesday that he denied ever saying that a "soldier is authorized to sexually harm a woman during war."
Opposition lawmaker Tzipi Livni told Channel 2 TV that Karim's views meant that "he cannot be the military rabbi."