IDF Chief Vows to Expand Women’s Combat Roles as Female Officers Push Back

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met on Tuesday with rabbis from the Religious Zionist camp and told them the army will keep expanding women’s roles in key positions and combat units, according to an IDF statement released Wednesday morning. He said women’s integration into combat has “immense operational importance” and that the military will continue opening roles and creating frameworks for women, in full accordance with the joint-service order in routine, emergency and war, while meeting operational needs and professional standards “without compromise.”

The meeting also included Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, Ground Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Nadav Lotan, Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Itai Ofir, Chief Military Rabbi Brig. Gen. Eyal Kרים, and Personnel and Planning Division chief Brig. Gen. Shai Tayeb. The IDF said Zamir opened by expressing “deep appreciation” for yeshivas and preparatory academies that encourage meaningful service and combat service, and praised the “decisive contribution” and “great sacrifice” of their students, especially during the war.

According to the military, Zamir presented the IDF’s current manpower needs, citing unprecedented operational challenges across all fronts. He said the army is still short of thousands of fighters and needs every man and woman to complete missions and preserve battlefield gains. He also said the joint-service order is one of the foundations for integrating diverse populations into service because it allows people to serve “side by side” while preserving the dignity of all soldiers.

The rabbis reportedly praised Zamir for leading the army through a difficult period and said they would continue educating students for meaningful military service. They also raised the challenges faced by observant soldiers and said any religiously observant soldier should be able to serve according to their beliefs and the principles of the joint-service order. Zamir concluded that Israel has one army, the “people’s army,” which must accommodate all complexities and enable meaningful service for all parts of society.

Separately, 257 female IDF officers sent a letter Wednesday to Zamir, Defense Minister Israel Katz and the ministry’s director general, citing what they called an “anti-women wave” against female fighters. The signatories, including six brigadier generals, seven colonels and 28 lieutenant colonels, said yielding to outside pressure would be a security failure and demanded rejection of rabbinic letters and discrimination against women. They called female combat soldiers an operational fact and strategic asset, accused the rabbis’ appeal of being “de facto incitement to refusal,” and urged the top military and political leadership to issue a formal order reinforcing shared service and a zero-tolerance policy toward exclusion of women.