Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, head of the Petah Tikva Yeshivat Hesder and considered a centrist, says that religious-Zionism is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Surprisingly, he supports refusal of orders under certain conditions.

His remarks apparently come on the heels of last week's rally of rabbis on behalf of the "independence of Torah." The rabbis were protesting the police summons for questioning of two rabbis who had written traditional "letters of blessing" for a controversial Torah volume, Torat HaMelekh. The book deals with Jewish warfare and the laws of killing enemy civilians.
"If, Heaven forbid, there is another withdrawal and the State orders soldiers to throw residents from their homes without finding them a solution - refusal of orders will be indicated."

Rabbi Cherlow, who did not attend, harshly termed the event "a terrible disgrace." He told Israel National News that he would have supported the protest had it also dealt with the "terrible disgrace of the publication of a Torah work that causes a desecration of G-d's Name and causes Jews to be distanced from Torah," instead of only concentrating on the police summons.

Most of the rabbis at the event did imply that they did not suphport the book's conclusions.

In an interview published in Friday's edition of the Hebrew Maariv newspaper, Rabbi Cherlow, a leading proponent of what is commonly called "moderate religious-Zionism," and often quoted by mainstream media, said that in his opinion, "Religious Zionism has made a series of decisions in recent years that have rendered it irrelevant within Israel's public discourse."

"We [religious-Zionists] are becoming more and more extremist," he said. "We are separating ourselves in all areas of politics, education and Jewish Law. We are not on the State of Israel's agenda in any issue, except for that of settlement. What a waste! We are a fantastic group of high-quality people, with top personal achievements, communal involvement, and quality youth, of which I am so happy to be a part of - but we are 'missing the boat.'

In Israeli eyes, he feels, "Shas represents Judaism, while social justice and the ethics of the prophets are invariably represented by the left - but Religious Zionism's voice is not heard."

However, he had some surprising words about those who refuse to obey army orders to demolish Jewish settlement sites:

"During the Disengagement, I was totally against refusal of orders. I support refusal only when it concerns a crime against humanity. A country has the right to determine its borders and not leave the Gush Katif residents [there] to the mercies of the Palestinians; this is not a crime. But if, Heaven forbid, there is another similar disengagement and the State orders its soldiers to throw residents from their homes without finding them a solution - then, refusal of orders will be indicated, as these would be orders over which the 'black flag of illegality' flies."