Hesder Yeshiva Leaders Urge the IDF Not to Split Its Ranks Over Women in Combat

Avi Pinsky, chief of staff of the Hesder Yeshiva Association, said in an interview with Channel 7 that the current fight over women serving in armored units is really about preserving the IDF as one army and keeping it within halakhic limits. He said the discussion followed a Knesset conference attended by lawmakers from four factions, rabbis, yeshiva heads, pre-military academy leaders and other organizations, where the message was, “Do not divide the IDF and do not force a religious soldier to do things against halakha.”

Pinsky stressed repeated support for the prime minister, the government and the army, saying, “We are part of this, and thank you. The IDF is precious and important to us.” He said rabbis across religious-Zionist leadership are united on the issue and that the red line is halakha. In his view, a religious soldier cannot serve in a mixed combat framework, even if the problem appears only later in training or deployment.

He argued that the IDF’s modern structure makes separation impossible in practice. According to Pinsky, mixed service in maneuvering units would inevitably create contact between male soldiers and female combat soldiers, and the army has already tried and failed to solve the problem in artillery and combat intelligence. He also rejected a separate brigade as a solution, calling it a division of the IDF, not a fix.

Pinsky said Hesder Yeshivot left some tracks in the past, including artillery, because there was no alternative. He also addressed medics and rear-area support troops, praising female medics for saving lives while saying field conditions can make all the rules impossible to enforce. He added that the association now employs two full-time rabbis to strengthen soldiers in non-combat roles.

Near the end, he dismissed talk of internal rifts in the association, saying the issue was only a misunderstanding and pointing to rabbis Tamar Grinberg, Tamir Granot, Pandel, Kalmanzon and Greiner sitting together at the same conference. He said the central demand remains: find a solution before the August draft, because, in his words, “We will fight for this” and will not allow others to separate them.