The Jewish Home is waiting for the IDF

"At the moment we are seen as some kind of non-commissioned officer for the religious affairs of Israel. Netanyahu doesn't take us into account. Not with regard to the Supreme Court, not with regard to freezing, not with regard to appointing Ehud Barak as defense minister."

That was how Naftali Bennett explained his decision to run for the leadership of the Habayit Hayehudi party and to remodel it. It was not by chance that he chose the metaphor of an NCO for religious affairs: It represents the "old-time religious" young man, the kind who came to terms with the fact he would have a marginal status in the army.

Naftali Bennett, on the other hand, represents the "new religious" young man, the kind who was motivated to throw off the image of the NCO for religious affairs and who, in the 1980s and 1990s, enlisted with a great deal of self-confidence in the combat units and gained a prominent place in the command hierarchy. There are other figures alongside Bennett who are identified with the newly combative religious young men, the most conspicuous being Moti Yogev and Maj. Yoni Shatbon. Bennett's generation succeeded in bringing about a profound change in the Israel Defense Forces.

Now he is going on to the next stage of this transformation - attaining a political position. Habayit Hayehudi under Bennett is appropriating as its own the enterprise of the religious preparatory military courses and the hesder yeshiva program in the army, making the party no longer merely identified with this enterprise, as was Habayit Hayehudi's predecessor, the National Religious Party.

Bennett was elected party leader after making efforts to enlist masses of students at the preparatory courses and hesder yeshivas and getting thousands to join the party. There was even an attempt to place polling booths in the hesder yeshivas during the party primaries.

The large presence of religious soldiers in the field units and positions of command, in combination with powerful political representation, will significantly increase that camp's bargaining chips vis a vis the army's top brass and the political echelon.

Until now, the influence of Bennett's generation had led to limitations on the freedom of action of the army and its cultural mold, in a manner that weakened its secular identity. But this influence was limited as long as NRP/Habayit Hayehudi showed only passive involvement in what was happening in the army. Exclusion of women, threats to refuse to evict settlers, cooperation between soldiers and settlers, control by the military chaplaincy of some of the educational system - none of these aroused active support and involvement on the part of the religious politicians.

The change is likely to come now with the changing of the guard in the national religious leadership and the retirement of the relatively moderate generation led by Zevulun Orlev, or that of Brig.Effi Eitam, an opinionated officer who became newly religious but was not part of the "knitted kippa" generations that saw the army as a flag to be captured.

The trend came to the forefront during an interview last week with Bennett on Nissim Mishal's program on Channel 2. Bennett explicitly declared that a soldier should refuse to carry out an order to evict a Jew from his home, even at the price of going to prison. He said quite simply that this is an order he would not be able to carry out. Even the statement of reservation that he later published is not able to erase this: For the first time, the person claiming to represent the collective identity of the religious soldier supports refusal to follow orders.

The significance of this is that the ability of religious soldiers to bargain over the issue of which mission will be placed on the army has been strengthened even further. That capacity to bargain found clear expression on the eve of the disengagement from Gaza, when the army sent a large number of religious soldiers away from the focal points of the eviction, and even more so afterward, in a way that led the army to demand of the political decision-makers not to force it to deal with future evacuations of settlements, including the illegal outposts in the territories.

Now, however, this is no longer merely a question of negotiations within the army, or between the army and the hesder rabbis. Another important player has been added, in the form of one of the large factions in the Knesset, and apparently a partner in the next government. There is no doubt about it - the generation of grandsons of the NCO for religious affairs will certainly have their say.

Your stress level could be measured on the Richter Scale. It's the week before Christmas, so there are a zillion people at the airport. Your flight has been delayed. The kids are crying. Your husband is yelling. Starving, you find the nearest food vendor and order a $12 basket of chicken fingers with fries.

Been there? Done that? Eating healthy on the road has long been a struggle for holiday travelers. It's one of the many reasons people tend to gain a couple extra pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

The good news is that consumers are demanding more nutritious options when they fly -- and the industry is responding, says Renate DeGeorge, director of culinary services for HMSHost, which operates dining facilities at more than 100 airports worldwide.

In recent years HMSHost has made several changes to their menus, including adding a variety of new salads, offering hummus plates as an appetizer and providing whole-grain bread for sandwiches.

"Most places now offer a variety of healthy options no matter where you stop, so that every traveler can find something they are looking for," DeGeorge wrote in an email.

Platkin publishes an annual food investigation survey that ranks the snacks and onboard food-service offerings from most major airlines.

"When you're a passenger on an airplane, you don't really have much choice," he says. "You're a captive audience and that creates a higher standard that airlines need to have."

Virgin America and Air Canada each earned four stars on Platkin's site for offering plenty of healthy options and providing calorie information for consumers. Platkin recommends Virgin's snack boxes -- like the protein meal with hummus -- and Air Canada's Roasted Chicken Wrap with salsa. You can check out his recommendations for other airlines here.

Most of us have at least a general idea of what's good for our bodies (a fruit plate) and what's not (a king-size chocolate bar). Making smart decisions is half the battle.

The other half is knowing where hidden dangers lie. Platkin cautions consumers to be wary around anything that comes with a sauce, whether it's salad dressing, mayonnaise on a sandwich or caramel dip for your apple slices. Even an extra tablespoon can add unnecessary calories.

Also be on the lookout for packaged snack foods like chips or crackers that are probably high in sodium. "Look for things that are in their natural state," he says.

Most importantly, avoid fried food, DeGeorge says. Anything smothered in batter then dipped in hot oil isn't good for your health, even if it did at one time resemble a vegetable.