Fake Scandal?

The chief rabbi of the IDF, before he was so appointed, once posted words to a religious website that seemed to say that Jewish soldiers can rape Goy women.  He also made a number of other statements that might be construed as sexist (including that women should not serve in IDF except in usual circumstances which aren't applicable now).

This was not merely a claim made by so called "self-hating" anti-Zionist diaspora Jews like Tony Greenstein.  The rabbi was bitterly denounced by various members of the Israeli Knesset, and the story was carried by many Israeli newspapers.

The rabbi and his defenders made various contrary statements later, claiming he he had only been discussing theory and was being taken out of context.

What to make of this?  Corrective statements as the rabbi and his defenders have made would not wash in the USA nor many other countries for a person in a major leadership position.  The principal here is that appearances count, regardless of technical defenses.  It looks pretty bad if your chief religious authority once said that rape by soldiers is ok, regardless of what he says now.  Qualifications added now should have been apparent in the original statement.  Lawyers, religious authorities, and others who are expected to use words carefully are usually well aware of this, and may not answer any question before giving all the qualifications and perhaps not even then.

It also means that making a statement like "Jewish Rabbis have said rape is OK" is not a libel as such, and though it could be a misinterpretation, it is a fair one under these circumstances, also given the fact that 150 rabbis signed a statement in support of the IDF rabbi.

It is also said that rape is quite common in war, and that US and Israeli troops are no exception.  (Many cases of rape by US soldiers have been proven as fact.)  So it's a sensitive issue for which appearances matter, and rabbis are supposed to speak with moral authority all the time, not just when making official statements.