IDF Chief’s Exclusion of Yigal Levinstein Sparks Protest from Religious Zionist Leaders

A sharp rift has deepened between the IDF and the religious Zionist sector after a planned meeting on integrating yeshiva students into the Armored Corps collapsed at the last minute. According to sources in the pre-military academy network, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir ordered that Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, head of the Eli pre-military academy, be removed from the guest list, and the message was passed through senior military officials who said he was not wanted.

The meeting was supposed to address how to integrate religious Zionist fighters into the Armored Corps while preserving their religious lifestyle, especially after Zamir’s decision to open the corps to women. Instead, it triggered a public backlash. Levinstein’s exclusion was tied to a letter he had published urging his students to avoid serving in Sayeret Matkal because of the integration of female combat soldiers in the unit.

Leaders of the pre-military academies said the move showed not only disrespect toward Levinstein, but contempt for the religious public, its way of life and its beliefs. The anger was intensified by what they see as the heavy price paid by the Eli academy in the current war, with about 30 of its alumni killed in combat. They also noted that the academy is one of the flagship institutions of religious Zionism and has produced senior officers, including Maj. Gen. Avi Blot and Mossad chief Roman Gofman.

In response, heads of the pre-military academies boycotted the meeting. The session did go ahead with several religious Zionist rabbis, including Rabbi Yehoshua Weitzman, Rabbi Yaakov Medan, Rabbi Hanan Althour, Rabbi Eyal Greiner, Rabbi Chaim Volfson, Rabbi Amichai Gordin and Rabbi Eliezer Shachnoveld. The episode marks another low point in relations between the army and religious Zionist rabbis, with the key question now whether Zamir will try to bridge the gap or allow the crisis to deepen.