Wives of soldiers serving in Lebanon circulated new footage they say shows mixed sleeping arrangements inside a tank battalion commander's house in Lebanon. The video reportedly shows a female soldier sleeping in close proximity to male troops in adjacent beds. According to the families, the clip reached the battalion's soldiers' wives and sparked an uproar.
One soldier's wife wrote that the battalion commander is religious and observant, adding that she trusts her husband to fight, but called the situation "madness" and "not normal" because he is being forced to sleep with a woman "head to toe" in the same room, in beds side by side. She asked, "Where are the elected officials? Where is the IDF chief rabbi?"
The organization Wives of Soldiers for the Sanctity of the Camp, under the Hutam umbrella, said senior IDF leadership had been defeated by radical feminist groups and the High Court of Justice. It said the mixing in the field has reached "horrifying" levels and claimed disturbing testimonies and videos keep arriving.
The group also referred to remarks it said the tank battalion rabbi made last week about immodesty in the field, warning that this could cause the divine presence to depart. It said those comments should have gone to a government meeting for clear decisions, and called on political leaders and Defense Minister Israel Katz to "wake up." The organization added that there is no way to discuss ultra-Orthodox enlistment while observant soldiers cannot serve properly.
