IDF Responds to Rosh Yeshiva Letter: Pilot Will Proceed Under the Joint Service Order

“After two and a half years of war, the army needs every fighter, male and female,” the IDF said in response to the heads of yeshivot’s letter calling for an end to enlisting their students to the armored corps because of the integration of women. The military stressed, however, that “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 is expected to be discussed soon. Senior officers are in talks with heads of hesder yeshivot and their representatives, along with other figures in the national religious public.

The IDF responded this evening, Wednesday, for the first time to the letter signed by 12 heads of hesder yeshivot, who announced yesterday that they would stop sending their students to the armored corps. The army said that after two and a half years of intense, multi-front war, the burden on the reserve system has increased significantly, and the military needs every available person for operational missions.

At the same time, 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 shared service by male and female fighters in tanks.

“Israel Defense Forces needs every fighter, male and female,” the army said in its response. “As the people’s army, the IDF sees paramount importance in integrating all sectors of the population, while making a great effort to preserve their way of life and needs, in a way 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 female fighters to the armored corps, but rather to carry out the planned pilot on the matter.

The IDF clarified that the pilot will be carried out in accordance with the joint service order, while adhering to operational and professional standards and according to operational need. “In all the options under consideration in the pilot, there is no alternative in which joint service of men and women will take place in the same framework,” the IDF said.

The pilot has not yet reached the chief of staff’s desk, and the issue is expected to be discussed soon. The IDF said that senior military officials have been in continuous contact in recent months with heads of hesder yeshivot and their representatives, alongside other figures in the national religious public. “The IDF values and appreciates the contribution of all servicemembers, including hesder yeshiva servicemembers,” the army said.

The response came after the heads of the yeshivot attacked the High Court’s decision on integrating female fighters and described it as harming the spirit of the army. “We are pained by the weak response of the State of Israel and the IDF,” the 12 rabbis wrote in yesterday’s letter. “Bringing female soldiers into tanks together with male soldiers harms the spiritual and practical ability to fight.”

“After serious deliberation, we decided that service in the armored corps is forbidden under Jewish law, and therefore we will not send our students to serve in the armored corps starting with the next draft,” the document said. The rabbis clarified that the thousands of students who enlist in other combat units will continue to do so with commitment and strength.

Among those who signed the letter were Rabbi Shahar Imbar and Rabbi Eliakim Levanon (Alon Moreh Yeshiva), Rabbi Yehoshua Van Dijk (Itamar Yeshiva), Rabbi Haggai Lundin (Hulon 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 (Hulon), and Rabbi Yaakov Yedid (Karmiel). Three additional yeshiva heads joined the document but asked not to have their names mentioned.

The rabbis’ decision stems from a recent High Court ruling, which unanimously determined that the IDF has a legal obligation to ensure equal opportunities between the sexes in assigning combat roles. By majority opinion, the justices ordered a trial placement for women in the armored corps as early as 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.