Four yeshiva students refused last week to board a troop transport that also carried female tank commanders after a training day, delaying the vehicle until commanders spoke with them. Once the discussion ended, the soldiers got on and the ride continued.
According to the report, the transport had come to pick up fighters and female soldiers from the training area. The women were seated in the rear of the vehicle, while other soldiers boarded without objection.
The IDF said in response that it will continue to act in accordance with the mixed-service regulations, while addressing the needs of all servicemen and servicewomen and preserving their way of life. The incident came amid broader disputes over women in combat roles and mixed service in the army.
In April, the High Court of Justice ruled that the IDF is legally required to ensure, as much as possible, equal opportunity between the sexes in assigning combat roles, and ordered, by majority decision, that a trial run in the Armored Corps begin in November 2026. In response, 12 heads of large hesder yeshivot said they would stop sending students to the Armored Corps starting with the next enlistment cycle, protesting the ruling. They wrote that integrating women tank fighters harms, in their view, the “sanctity of the camp” and combat effectiveness, and asked the army to create an alternative track for recruits who do not want mixed service.
Later, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said there would be “no exclusion of women in the IDF,” stressing that women’s integration is “values-based, equal and an operational necessity,” and that “all parts of the population must share the burden.” Separately, yesterday, Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, head of the Eli pre-military academy, urged his students not to enlist in Sayeret Matkal, saying the unit had become mixed and opposing joint service by male and female fighters.
