IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir ordered on Wednesday that men and women assigned to the armored corps will train at a separate base, the Border Defense School, after heads of hesder yeshivas threatened to block their students from enlisting in the corps because of mixed service.
The threats continued even after the army said the pilot program for women in maneuvering armor would be carried out separately. A military source said, “The artillery corps event will not happen in the armored corps,” meaning the integration of female combat soldiers would remain in a separate framework.
Last week, 12 hesder yeshiva heads announced they would stop sending their students to the armored corps, starting with the coming draft and ahead of the expected induction this week. Their move followed a High Court ruling requiring women to be integrated into the armored corps.
In their letter, the yeshiva heads asked the army to find a solution for students whose medical profile prevents infantry service. They wrote, “We view very seriously the High Court’s decision to force the IDF to integrate female soldiers into maneuvering armor.” They added that putting women in tanks together with men causes “spiritual and practical harm” to combat effectiveness, and said they had decided that service in armor is forbidden under Jewish law, so they would not send their students there from the next draft.
About a day later, the IDF said there were no plans for men and women to serve together in the same framework during the pilot. “After two and a half years of fighting, the IDF needs every fighter and fighter. Senior IDF officers have been in continuous contact in recent months with hesder yeshiva heads and their representatives, alongside other figures in the national-religious public,” the army said.
