German Army to employ rabbis for the first time in a century

"Today at the Cabinet meeting, we sent an important signal to our Jewish soldiers," Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer wrote on Twitter.

By ROSSELLA TERCATIN
Soldiers of the German army Bundeswehr take part in an exercise during a media day in Munster, Germany September 28, 2018 (photo credit: FABIAN BIMMER / REUTERS)
Soldiers of the German army Bundeswehr take part in an exercise during a media day in Munster, Germany September 28, 2018
(photo credit: FABIAN BIMMER / REUTERS)
The German army is set to have a rabbi in its ranks for the first time in almost a century.
German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced Wednesday that the government is working to reintroduce a Jewish military chaplain in the German army (Bundeswehr), in order to combat growing antisemitism.
"Today at the Cabinet meeting, we sent an important signal to our Jewish soldiers," Kramp-Karrenbauer wrote on Twitter.
"After about 100 years, we will install a Jewish military rabbi in the Bundeswehr again. A clear commitment — Jewish life is self-evident in our country," she further said.
According to a report by German paper Deutsche Welle (DW), there are about 300 Jewish soldiers currently serving in the country’s army.
DW added that, in order to create the federal government would sign a treaty with the Central Council of Jews.
Earlier this year, Council’s head Josef Schuster called on German authorities to offer its Jewish and Muslim members religious service as it does to Christians in a column in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Following Schuster’s appeal, Kramp-Karrenbauer’s predecessor Ursula van Der Leyen, who currently serves as the head of the European Commission, also expressed the intention to heed to his request, but she did not manage to carry out the project before leaving her position.
There are about 3,000 Muslim soldiers serving in the army, according to DW, although the fact that they do not have a central organization representing them makes it more difficult to make arrangements for imams in the military.
During the First World War, tens of thousands of Jews served in the Bundeswehr, including some rabbis. Among them was the prominent theologian Leo Baeck.