25 Hesder Yeshivas Stop Sending Students to the IDF Armored Corps Amid Manpower Crisis

In the midst of the IDF’s manpower crisis, 13 additional Hesder yeshiva heads announced today, Thursday, that they would refuse to send their students to enlist in the Armored Corps, two days after a similar appeal by 12 yeshiva heads. The move comes in response to the integration of women as fighters in the corps and to the High Court of Justice’s decision on integrating combat units. So far, 25 yeshivas have joined the decision, about one-third of all Hesder yeshivas in Israel.

The additional statement was published one day after the IDF Spokesperson responded to the earlier letter from the yeshiva heads. The rabbis said in their letter that they oppose refusal to serve and stressed that their students would continue to serve in the IDF, but not in the Armored Corps. “We are pained by the feeble response of the State of Israel and the IDF,” the rabbis wrote in their letter. “The inclusion of female soldiers in tanks together with male soldiers causes spiritual and practical harm to combat capability.”

Among the rabbis who joined the letter were Rabbi Michael Aharonov, Rabbi David Amitei, Rabbi Shlomo Binyamin, Rabbi Eran Tamir, Rabbi Elisha Yinon, Rabbi Eyal Yaakovovich, Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, Rabbi Avihu Fishpeder, Rabbi Shlomo Shoshan, Rabbi Yehoshua Schmidt and Rabbi David Turgeman. Two additional yeshiva heads asked that their names not be published.

The yeshiva heads said they would no longer send their students to serve in the corps beginning with the next draft. “After serious consideration, we decided that service in the Armored Corps is forbidden under Jewish law,” the rabbis explained. “The IDF is responsible for ensuring that combat-profile soldiers who are not suited for infantry service are placed in a combat framework that matches their fighting spirit.”

According to the yeshivas’ statement, because of the fixed allocation in each enlistment cycle, hundreds of fighters will be missing from the Armored Corps as a result of the move.