Why wasn't Brigadier General Ofer Winter promoted?

June 11, 2018   

Brigadier General Ofer Winter is one of the best and most respected officers in the IDF, and there is no disputing his professional qualities. He is a leader of the highest order who sanctified the heavens in Operation Protective Edge, when he strengthened his soldiers with words of faith and the recitation of the Shema Yisrael. He has been praised for this by both religious and non-religious people. What mother wouldn't want her son to pray to God in such a situation? In the eyes of many in the defense establishment, Ofer Winter deserves to be appointed to the rank of major general, and is even a candidate for the position of Chief of Staff when the time comes. Despite all this, Ofer Winter is not promoted in the army's command echelon. Time and again, his promotion has been blocked, while other officers - good and worthy in their own right - are advancing up the ranks. Why isn't Ofer Winter promoted? What are other officers good at that he isn't? Is there anyone in the IDF who isn't interested in religious commanders like him? The IDF is the people's army, and as such it must represent all segments of the population and give expression at the senior level to the religious public, who are enlisting en masse for meaningful service. Unfortunately, the situation in the IDF today indicates the opposite trend. Instead of promoting religious officers, religious soldiers are forced to participate in entertainment evenings, swim in a mixed pool, listen to women's singing - and they are forbidden to grow their beards. If the army wants to maintain its definition as the people's army, it must represent the people and allow the religious public to maintain their lifestyle as they wish. The entire political system is in turmoil over the committee's recommendations regarding the conscription law for yeshiva students, and Chief of Staff Eisenkot himself appeared before the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and declared that the army has a desire to conscript all yeshiva students. What an example the army is setting for the religious and ultra-Orthodox public if it does not promote religious officers and places them in a conflict between military orders and observance of Halacha. Someone at the top must come to their senses and change this trend before a rift and an irreparable breach of trust are created. It is a shame to destroy a fabric of relationships that has been carefully woven over decades.