JERUSALEM, March 8 (JTA) — A former official for the Israel Defense Force has apologized for comparing the yarmulkes worn by some Israeli soldiers to the swastikas worn by Nazi soldiers during World War II. Reserve Maj.-Gen. Shlomo Gazit was quoted in Israeli newspapers over the weekend as saying, “The only army I know of where members of a political party area allowed to wear an identifiable, external symbol was in the Nazi army.” In the public uproar that ensued, Gazit said he was talking about “a phenomena I consider worrying,” but added that his remarks were simply “stupid,” the Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported. Gazit currently is a researcher at the Institute for Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv, and serves as an external consultant for the Mossad. Among those who lambasted him for his remarks were Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he was “shocked,” and the IDF’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Amnon Shahak, who termed the remarks “hurtful and rude.” Gazit made the comments while speaking at a Tel Aviv University seminar titled, “The IDF: Unifying or Dividing.”
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