In an opinion article, Rabbi Dror Aria says recent accounts from combat in Gaza and Lebanon raise serious questions about how the Israel Defense Forces are implementing the joint-service rules and protecting the military camp's sanctity. He argues that responsibility lies with the command, the Military Rabbinate, and the soldiers themselves.
Aria says photos and testimonies arriving in recent weeks from maneuvering forces describe an unacceptable reality of gender mixing at the front, including inside armored personnel carriers, crowded buildings, and extreme field conditions. He asks how soldiers can be placed in what he calls a situation that is both impossible and contrary to values at the decisive moments of war.
He bases his argument on verses from Deuteronomy 23 in the Torah portion Ki Tetze, which he says are not a suggestion but an operational condition for victory. According to him, when the camp's holiness is harmed, the spiritual strength and operational resilience of fighters are directly damaged, and there is no divine assistance, putting the entire force at risk.
Aria also criticizes what he describes as institutional silence, asking where the youth and gender equality coordinator, the command, and the Military Rabbinate are. He says this is no longer a local or isolated failure, but a widespread phenomenon, and urges brigade and preparatory-school rabbis to stop what he calls a “crazy tango” with military leaders. He ends by telling soldiers not to accept the situation, to report problems in real time, and to insist on both halacha and the joint-service order, saying they have the halachic, moral, and legal power to do so.
