In all the command positions that he held, General Elazar Stern knew that the role of the Israel Defense Forces was not limited solely to achieving victory on the battlefield. Many of the tasks that he undertook in over three decades of service to his country required moral courage - whether it was initiating conversion courses in the IDF, laying down a hard line against disobeying orders during the evacuation of Gush Katif (The Gaza Strip), or taking a stand against draft dodgers.<BR><BR>In Struggling Over Israel's Soul, General Stern tells the story of his personal battles - the battles for the character and future of the IDF as the army of the people and for the character and future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. He candidly describes the challenges and difficulties of being a religious soldier in a unit of non-religious soldiers, yet he openly opposes the continued service of religious soldiers in separate units. He explains why he was required to rewrite the IDF's ethical code and reveals his revolutionary plan to solve the problem of ultra-Orthodox army exemptions.