Rabbi Shabtai Sabato, head of the high school and yeshiva in Mitzpeh Yericho, warned on Wednesday against expanding mixed-gender service in the IDF. Speaking to Channel 7 at an emergency Knesset conference on the issue, he said the planned pilot to integrate women into maneuvering armored corps units is part of a struggle over the army’s Jewish identity.
Sabato said the debate is far more serious than ordinary religious violations. “There is no doubt that this struggle is a struggle over the Jewish identity of the Israel Defense Forces,” he said, adding, “This is the bottom of the barrel. It is much harder than desecrating Shabbat or even eating forbidden food. It is ‘there shall not be lewdness among you, and your camp shall be holy.’”
He stressed the sacrifices of religious soldiers in Israel’s wars, saying he fought in three wars and asking why religious troops are not given proper consideration. “My yeshiva has seven fallen soldiers,” he said. He rejected joint combat settings for men and women, arguing that one army should not become “an army of tribes.” He said it was unacceptable for a reservist with a wife and children to serve in the same armored vehicle with female soldiers.
At the same time, he said he does not oppose women serving in the IDF in principle. “If there are some female soldiers who want to serve, let them serve,” he said, but insisted that men and women should not be together in the same tank. Sabato also criticized army leadership, saying religious soldiers are ignored, and warned that expanding mixed service will make it harder to recruit Haredim. “What they want to do is terrible anti-religious coercion,” he said.
