IDF Chief Responds for First Time to Rabbis’ Calls Not to Enlist in Armor

Against the backdrop of an unprecedented call by a series of leading rabbis and yeshiva heads in the religious community, who urged their students not to enlist in the Armored Corps following the expansion of mixed service and the integration of female fighters in tanks, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi gave his first public, direct, and carefully timed response to the heated crisis this evening (Thursday). In a speech to IDF employees, the chief of staff addressed directly the halakhic concerns of the national-religious public, in what appeared to be a clear attempt to stop the quiet enlistment revolt in the maneuver corps. "The IDF is the people’s army," Halevi declared at the start of his remarks, "and for that reason, I see supreme importance in integrating all sectors of the population into its service, especially in the combat and combat support array."

The message to the rabbis, "Not at the expense of the other public." In an effort to calm tensions in hesder yeshivas and pre-military academies, the chief of staff sent an unequivocal message about the nature of the service of religious fighters alongside female soldiers: "This complex integration will always be carried out in a way that allows one sector to serve alongside the other, and not at their expense," Halevi clarified, hinting that the army would not impose harm to the halakhic way of life of the fighters. "I am saying here clearly," the chief of staff added, "I fully understand, and the IDF fully understands, the sensitivities and the required balances. I have no doubt that we will know how to overcome this challenge as well, because we have no other alternative. We are all together, committed to the highest purpose of all, ensuring the security and strengthening the future of the State of Israel."

The crisis threatening the reserve forces. The chief of staff’s statement comes at a time when tensions between the national-religious Torah world and the army leadership are at their peak. Prominent rabbis have expressed grave concern that the integration of women inside enclosed spaces such as tanks and armored personnel carriers violates halakhic and modesty norms, and claimed that the army is "pushing religious fighters out." In the second part of his speech, the chief of staff sought to reinforce the sense of belonging and the importance of action during the war, quoting from the sources: "You are giving meaning to the words of Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh: 'The land is very, very good.' Through your daily work in the heart of a challenging reality, you are building the tools that allow us to exist here as a people."