Major Rabbi Udi Schwartz, head of the Chief Military Rabbi's office, wrote in a WhatsApp group of military rabbis that a number of senior rabbis have given their consent to the halachic ruling, according to which gentile IDF soldiers can be buried alongside Jews.
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"We decided on the solution about two years ago and announced it only to those who are affected," he wrote in the group.
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Major Schwartz revealed that the halachic ruling was given a written outline by the rabbis Rabbi Yitzhak Silberstein, Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl, Rabbi Shlomo Fischer, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, and Rabbi Aryeh Stern.
According to him, verbal consent was also given by the Rishon LeZion, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef.
Today, non-Jewish fallen are buried two meters from the last grave in a row.
According to the new procedure, which was formulated by the Defense Ministry in coordination with the Military Rabbinate - and revealed this week by Moshe Steinmetz on 'Kan News' - a non-Jewish grave will be buried 20 cm deeper than the other graves in the row, and an additional partition made of blocks or metal will be installed around the coffin, but there will be no physical separation between the graves of Jews and the graves of non-Jewish martyrs.
Over the years, storms have arisen when non-Jew IDF soldiers were buried outside of burial plots.
In 2017, a new procedure was formulated that placed the non-Jewish graves in a row – but two meters away from the last grave. Typically, a bench was installed or a tree was planted between the last grave and the grave of the non-Jewish grave, in order to blur the difference in distance.
Even then, rabbis opposed the inclusion of gentile martyrs in the plots.
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The Defense Ministry said in response to the publication in Kan News: "Over the years, there have been discussions with the Military Rabbinate regarding the manner of burial, in order to allow the burial of fallen soldiers of the Israeli military next to each other and without distances. Finally, solutions were found that were coordinated with the Military Rabbinate in halakhic aspects and according to the halakhic ruling of the Chief Rabbi of the IDF. The adjustments require updating procedures in the ministry and were therefore carried out accordingly.".
