IDF Says Women’s Tank Pilot Will Proceed Under Joint Service Order Amid Rabbinic Protest

The IDF responded tonight to a letter from heads of hesder yeshivas opposing the enlistment of their students to the armored corps because of the integration of women. “After two and a half years of war, the army needs every fighter, male and female,” the IDF said, while stressing that the pilot will be carried out in accordance with the joint service order. “There is no alternative in which joint service of men and women will take place in the same framework.” The women’s pilot has not yet reached the chief of staff’s desk and will be discussed soon. Senior military officials are discussing the issue with heads of hesder yeshivas and their representatives, along with additional figures in the national-religious public.

The IDF responded this evening, Wednesday, for the first time to the letter from 12 hesder yeshiva heads, who announced yesterday that they would stop sending their students to the armored corps. The army clarified that after two and a half years of intense, multi-front war, the burden on the reserve system has increased significantly, and the army needs every available person for its operational missions. However, the IDF emphasized that in the women’s pilot, “there is no alternative in which joint service of men and women will take place in the same framework,” thereby rejecting the rabbis’ concern about mixed service by male and female soldiers in tanks.

“IDF needs every fighter, male and female,” the army said in its response. “As the people’s army, the IDF views the integration of all populations as a matter of supreme importance, while making a major effort to preserve their way of life and needs, in a manner that does not harm one population at the expense of another.” It was also stressed that the High Court of Justice did not instruct the army to recruit women to the armored corps, but rather to carry out the planned pilot on the matter.

The army clarified that the pilot will be carried out in accordance with the joint service order, while adhering to operational and professional standards and in line with operational need. “In all of the options being examined in the pilot, there is no alternative in which joint service of men and women will take place in the same framework,” the IDF emphasized. The pilot has not yet reached the chief of staff’s desk, and the issue is expected to be discussed soon. The IDF said senior officers have been in continuous contact in recent months with heads of hesder yeshivas and their representatives, along with other figures in the national-religious public. “The IDF values and appreciates the contribution of all those serving, including hesder yeshiva servicemembers,” it said.

The response came after the rabbis attacked the High Court’s decision on integrating female soldiers and described it as harming the spirit of the army. “We are pained by the feeble response of the State of Israel and the IDF,” the 12 rabbis wrote in their letter yesterday. “The introduction of female soldiers into tanks together with male soldiers harms, spiritually and practically, combat capability.”

“After serious consideration, we have decided that service in the armored corps is prohibited according to halakha, and therefore we will not send our students to armored corps service starting with the next draft,” the document said. The rabbis clarified that thousands of students enlisting in other combat units would continue to do so with dedication and strength.

Among the signatories to the letter were Rabbis Shahar Imber and Eliakim Levanon (Alon Moreh Yeshiva), Rabbi Yehoshua Van Dijk (Itamar Yeshiva), Rabbi Chagai Londin (Holon Yeshiva), Rabbi Baruch Vider (Yeshivat Hakotel), Rabbi David Fendel (Sderot Yeshiva), Rabbi Noam Waldman (Nir Yeshiva, Kiryat Arba), Rabbi Yossi Rodriguez (Eilat), Rabbi Eliyahu Rahamim Zini (Haifa), Rabbi Tal Shaulian (Holon), and Rabbi Yaakov Yedid (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 ruling, which unanimously determined that the IDF has a legal obligation to ensure equal opportunities between the sexes in assignments to combat roles. By majority opinion, the justices ordered a trial program for women in the armored corps beginning in November 2026. The justices ruled that barring women from a particular role would be permitted only as an exception, and that the burden of proof rests with the army.