Women’s groups and members of the Israeli parliament have criticised the Israeli military after it emerged that its nominee for the role of chief military rabbi had in the past made remarks – later clarified – that appeared to defend the rape of non-Jewish women by soldiers in wartime.

The row erupted soon after it was announced that Rabbi Colonel Eyal Karim had been earmarked to head Israel’s military rabbinate. The comments were first published in 2002 on a religious website. In 2012 on the same website he said his words had been taken out of context and rape was forbidden “in any situation”.

Israeli newspapers republished the remarks after his nomination was announced on Monday, and members of the Knesset and women’s rights organisations called for the decision to be revoked.

Critics said other comments he had made also showed hostility towards women serving in the Israeli armed forces, and towards women generally.

In a Q&A section called Ask the Rabbi on the website Kipa in 2012, as part of a discussion of the Torah’s attitude towards rape in wartime, Karim was asked: “Is it allowed in our time for an IDF soldier, for example, to rape girls during a fight, or is such a thing forbidden?”

Karim answered – in the past tense and referring more generally to sexual relations with non-Jewish women – that “since the success of the whole at war is our goal, the Torah permitted the individual to satisfy the evil urge … for the purpose of the success of the whole.”

Although different translations of Karim’s comments have appeared in several Israeli media outlets, they all seem to demonstrate an apparent failure to disavow rape in war.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Binyamin Netanyahu attends a session of the Knesset on Tuesday. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

When the comments received widespread media attention for the first time in 2012, Karim issued a clarification to the same website, saying: “Obviously, in our times, when the world has advanced to a level of morality in which one does not marry captives, one must not perform this act, which is also entirely against the army’s values and orders.”

According to reports in the Israeli media on Tuesday, Karim again apologised for his remarks after being called in for meeting with a senior military officer.

An Israeli military spokesman said Karim’s remarks should not be read as a response to “practical Jewish law” but as theoretical and “interpretive”.

“Rabbi Karim has never written, said or even thought that an Israeli soldier is permitted to sexually assault a woman in war, and anyone who interprets his words otherwise is completely mistaken,” the spokesman said.

Zahava Galon, leader of the leftwing Meretz party, called on Facebook for Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to intervene in the appointment. She said Karim was morally unsuitable for the post of chief rabbi in a military in which thousands of women serve.

It is not the first time that Karim has been drawn into controversy over his views. A part of the military rabbinate he formerly headed published a booklet in 2013 stating that “the concept that non-Jews have equal rights with Jews in Israel goes against the opinion of the Torah, and the state’s representatives have no authority to act against the Torah’s will.” The Israeli military apologised for publishing the booklet and rejected its claims.

In 2002 Karim wrote that women’s enlistment in the military should be forbidden, and in 2011 he objected to women singing at military events.