Rabbi Supports Soldiers Refusing to Serve with Female Medics

Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, a co-founder of the Bnei David academy in Eli, has voiced strong support for soldiers from the Rotem Battalion of the Givati Brigade who were disciplined for refusing to board an armored personnel carrier (APC) with a female paramedic. Levinstein argued that the IDF is forcing religious soldiers to violate Jewish law under the guise of operational necessity.

He criticized the IDF's handling of the issue and the role of the Military Rabbinate, stating, "The IDF has decided to 'cancel' the role of the Chief Military Rabbi." According to Levinstein, the military compels religious soldiers to transgress religious laws by boarding APCs with female paramedics, citing operational needs.

Levinstein claimed this situation is not accidental but the result of a deliberate, 15-year process by the IDF to ensure a majority of female paramedics. He asserted that the Military Rabbinate is placed in an impossible situation, forced to choose between operational requirements and religious law, demanding an unachievable solution from the Chief Military Rabbi.

Concluding his remarks, Levinstein criticized the army's policy and reaffirmed his support for the soldiers. "This is not how you run a Jewish army! I strengthen the hands of the Givati soldiers from the Hesder yeshivas for their bravery and steadfastness in preserving Judaism in the Israel Defense Forces," he stated.