Rabbi David Stav, chairman of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, said in an interview on Channel 7 that threats by hesder yeshiva rabbis to stop students from serving in the armored corps were premature. Stav said he shares their concern about integrating women into tank units, but argued the army has not yet implemented the move and should instead hold talks with yeshiva leaders to find a solution, such as assigning male soldiers and female soldiers to separate armored brigades. He called the threats too drastic for a situation that has not yet become real.
Stav also said the issue should be handled with broad public understanding, not only through confrontation with the army and the media. He stressed that there are absolute halachic, modesty, and spiritual red lines for religious soldiers, and said, “Where there is a halachic problem, halacha overrides everything.” He added that the discussion should begin “with flowers and not by pulling out the cannons.”
The second half of the interview focused on kashrut and new legislation promoted by Shas that would roll back earlier reforms. Stav said current law allows city rabbis to certify outside their own municipalities and also allows corporations to provide kashrut under either the Chief Rabbinate or three city rabbis, but the system has not been implemented because the Religious Services Ministry and the Chief Rabbinate have not issued regulations. He said critics had a point about monopoly, especially in meat certification, where power can be abused, and he claimed most rabbis who issue kashrut do not eat the products they certify, showing trust is at a low point.
Stav argued that Shas’s proposal would not improve kashrut, but would give political power to local council officials at the expense of business owners and local rabbis. He said that if councils hire the supervisors, they become monopolies, and an official could harm someone he dislikes by controlling certification. He warned that Israel’s beef prices are 10 to 20 percent higher because of the monopoly, hurting businesses.
He urged Religious Zionism and Likud MKs to stop what he called a “fire sale,” and ended by calling for unity ahead of the election period and the approaching Three Weeks. Stav said Israel is entering a difficult new social, diplomatic, and security reality, and warned that the next elections must not deepen the national divide.
