As we predicted…

The Army has announced that it is disbanding units consisting only of Hesder boys. And while Maj.-Gen. Elazar Stern, himself a knitted-Kippa wearer, protests (and protests and protests) that this move has nothing to do with the threats coming from the national religious camp that its boys will be instructed to disobey orders in the event of disengagement from Gaza, it is hard to believe him. The army does not reverse a 30+ - year policy which is integral to the Hesder program against the wishes of the Hesder rabbis and with almost no consultation with the Hesder public (Stern claims, laughably, that he asked for a show of hands in meetings with some Hesder boys) at such a sensitive time for the community on what amounts to a multicultural whim (as Stern has claimed).
This, of course, is a terrible blow for the national religious community and for many boys who feel more comfortable serving in the army because they are part of these units (at least for some time). It is hard, however, to avoid the conclusion that the national religious rabbis brought this disaster on themselves with their irresponsible and dangerous pronouncements. This was entirely predictable; Indeed, this is what I wrote on Bloghead in October in a post entitled, ‘Goodbye Hesder?’:

If I were a senior figure in the army or a politician, here's what I'd be thinking: "More than 35 years ago, we agreed to set up a hesder system so that the religious nationalist sector in Israel could combine its army service with religious study. The hesder framework was supposed to reinforce the sector's commitment to the army, by making it easier for them to serve, and create a true partnership.
"In the past months, many of the yeshivot have become enemies of the army, which utterly depends on the obedience of its soldiers. Hesder rabbis are encouraging their students to disobey orders; we don't know whether students are more loyal, in this context, to their rabbis or to their commanders. It is a matter of utmost urgency that the Hesder framework be dismantled immediately."

The rabbis are now reaping what they have sown, all too casually and taking for granted what the army granted to them as a privilege.