Despite military guidelines prohibiting it, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit publishes non-critical press statements on the Jewish day of rest on a weekly basis.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit continues to publish press releases on Saturday, the Jewish Shabbat, even if the information is not urgent or relevant to preventing immediate danger to human lives, in contrast to the military guidelines on the matter.
For instance, this past Saturday, the unit published a routine statement summing up the IDF’s activities in Judea and Samaria in April.
In addition, the unit published footage from the IAF operations command center showing the commanders of the IAF and Northern Command during an IAF airstrike in Syria. Another statement published on the day of rest reported on the operations of the 19th Brigade in the northern Gaza Strip. In addition, the IDF announced the evacuation of five wounded Druze civilians from Syria to an Israeli hospital.
According to IDF guidelines, it is only permissible to publish announcements on Shabbat in life-threatening situations, situations where there is an urgent operational need, or a direct message to the public that demands an answer. Other exceptions can exist with the authorization of the Military Rabbinate. However, according to senior figures in the Rabbinate, most of the statements are not known to the Rabbinate before their publication, and there is no orderly guideline or ongoing coordination with the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
A month ago, the IDF published a Facebook post on Saturday featuring a picture of the pilot Yael Rom. Following a message from Arutz Sheva, the IDF removed the post.
Arutz Sheva contacted the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit on Saturday night with a request for comment, but has not yet received one.
