IDF Chief to hesder yeshivas: Service should be alongside one another, not at one another’s expense

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir addressed the dispute over integrating female combat soldiers into the Armored Corps on Wednesday, saying at a conference of the IDF Employees Organization: "The IDF is the people's army, and therefore attaches supreme importance to integrating all sectors of the population into its ranks, especially in the combat system. This complex integration will always be done in a way that allows one sector to serve alongside another, and not at its expense."

His remarks came after 13 additional hesder yeshiva heads announced they were stopping the enlistment of their students into the Armored Corps. Together with the 12 yeshiva heads who announced the move earlier this week, 25 yeshivas are now halting recruitment to the corps. In practical terms, this means a shortage of hundreds of soldiers in each enlistment cycle.

Among the rabbis who joined the protest letter are Rabbi Michael Aharonov, Rabbi David Amitai, Rabbi Shlomo Binyamin, Rabbi Eran Tamir, Rabbi Elisha Yinon, Rabbi Eyal Yaakovovich, Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, Rabbi Avihu Fishpfeder, Rabbi Shlomo Shushan, Rabbi Yehoshua Schmidt, and Rabbi David Turjeman. In their letter, the rabbis wrote: "The inclusion of female soldiers in tanks together with male soldiers harms the spiritual and practical ability to fight. We have decided that service in the Armored Corps is forbidden according to halacha."

By contrast, Na'amat chairwoman Hagit Par criticized the move: "The rabbis who signed this decision are destroying the IDF and burying the people’s army model. At a time when entire populations are exempting themselves from the duty of service, the IDF cannot afford to say no to those who want and are able to contribute."

The IDF said yesterday that the army is preparing to advance a pilot program to examine the integration of female combat soldiers, and that no final decision has yet been made. The army also clarified that the need to examine expanding women’s integration arises against the backdrop of the ongoing war and the strain on the reserve forces. The IDF emphasized that none of the options being examined in the pilot will include joint service of men and women in the same framework.