12 Hesder Yeshivas Halt Tank Corps Enlistment Over Integration of Women

12 large Hesder yeshivas announced yesterday, Tuesday, that they will stop sending their students to the armored corps beginning with the next enlistment cycle, following a High Court of Justice ruling requiring the IDF to integrate women combat soldiers into the maneuvering armored corps.

In a letter sent by the rabbis, they said they viewed the decision very seriously, attacked the state and the IDF’s position on the issue, and demanded that the army find a solution for students with a combat profile that does not allow service in the infantry. "We are pained by the weak response of the State of Israel and the IDF, which did not express opposition to this move," the heads of the yeshivas wrote in their letter. "The IDF is the army of the people of Israel, and the sanctity of the camp is the basis of the IDF’s spirit and its success in defeating the enemy. Bringing female soldiers into tanks together with male soldiers is a spiritual and practical blow to combat capability."

"After careful deliberation, we decided that service in the armored corps is prohibited according to Jewish law, and therefore we will not send our students to serve in the armored corps beginning with the next draft," the document said. The rabbis clarified that the thousands of students enlisting in the other combat units would continue to do so with commitment and determination.

Among those who signed the letter were Rabbis Shahar Imber and Eliakim Levanon, of Alon Moreh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yehoshua Van Dyke of Itamar Yeshiva, Rabbi Haggi Londin of Holon Yeshiva, Rabbi Baruch Wieder of Yeshivat Hakotel, Rabbi David Fendel of Sderot Yeshiva, Rabbi Noam Waldman of Nir Yeshiva in Kiryat Arba, Rabbi Yossi Rodriguez of Eilat, Rabbi Eliyahu Rachamim Zeini of Haifa, Rabbi Tal Shaulyan of Holon, and Rabbi Yaakov Yedid of Karmiel. Three additional yeshiva heads joined the document but asked not to have their names mentioned.

The background to the rabbis’ decision is a recent High Court of Justice ruling, which unanimously determined that the IDF has a legal obligation to ensure equal opportunity between the sexes in assignments to combat roles. By majority opinion, the justices ordered a trial period for women in the armored corps as early as November 2026. The justices ruled that preventing women from serving in a particular role would be allowed only as an exception, and that the burden of proof rests with the army.

Chairman of the Democrats party Yair Golan attacked the yeshiva heads’ announcement: "This letter is a disgrace. Women will integrate wherever they want, and in every role the IDF needs them. Everyone will enlist for full military service, including religious Zionists and ultra-Orthodox, and no sector will set conditions for the state. The IDF is the state people’s army, not a sectorial militia."