"Religious soldiers are among the best fighters we have, but if the messianic ideology grows stronger among them, if soldiers really do not return to their units after Passover, it will be only the beginning, and the next step will be a coup," he added.

Recently, a former Israeli chief rabbi called on soldiers to refuse to return to units after this month's Passover holiday and thus hold up the withdrawal to begin this summer.

The Israeli army refused to comment on Yatom’s remarks and a religious, and former general said that he was being alarmist.

"You'd need two or three division at least to carry out a coup," he told Army Radio. "It is true that there is a higher percentage of religious soldiers in the top units, but that is because of their love of the country. They have no intention of bringing its ruin."

FULL STORY at http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=7797