Half of Hesder yeshiva heads back suspending armored corps enlistment

Thirty-three rabbis, roughly half of Israel’s Hesder yeshiva heads, have now signed a letter calling to stop directing students to the armored corps. The latest signatories include Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira, Rabbi Ben Zion Elgazi and Rabbi Ephraim Ghiami, and some additional rabbis and yeshiva heads signed anonymously.

The move follows a Supreme Court ruling requiring the IDF to integrate women combat soldiers into maneuvering armor units, along with the army’s plan to launch an intensive field pilot on the issue. Rabbis in the religious-Zionist community say they fear serious harm to the halachic lifestyle of observant soldiers and to the “sanctity of the camp,” which they describe as a Torah condition for divine presence and for the army’s fighting spirit.

The signatories argue that Israel’s victory depends directly on preserving the IDF’s spiritual and moral strength, and that gender mixing in front-line units undermines that goal. They say attempts to mediate and hold dialogue with military officials failed because of the lack of agreement and what they called the system’s weak response.

The letter includes other named yeshiva heads, among them Rabbi Yitzhak Neriya, Rabbi Yeshayahu Meitlis, Rabbi Moshe Chai Beharav, Rabbi Yoni Harush, Rabbi Yaakov Bar Khan and Rabbi Yigal Kotai. The rabbis say their students will continue enlisting in combat units, but they are demanding that the IDF find a solution for recruits with combat fitness profiles that do not allow infantry service. The dispute has shaken relations between the military and religious Zionism and could affect the enlistment of hundreds of yeshiva students to the armored corps in the coming rounds.