25 hesder yeshivas stop sending students to the IDF Armored Corps amid manpower crisis

In the midst of the IDF’s manpower crisis, 25 hesder yeshivas have stopped sending their students to serve in the Armored Corps, about one-third of all hesder yeshivas, after announcing that they would halt enlistment to the unit over the integration of women.

Elie Hirschman, N12, published: 11.06.26, 12:58. Entry of forces into Gaza City | Photo: IDF Spokesperson. Thirteen additional hesder yeshiva heads announced today (Thursday) that they are refusing to send their students to enlist in the Armored Corps, two days after a similar call by 12 yeshiva heads. The move comes in response to the integration of women as combat soldiers in the corps and the High Court of Justice’s decision to mix combat units. So far, 25 yeshivas have joined the decision, representing about one-third of all hesder yeshivas in Israel.

The additional announcement was published a day after the IDF Spokesperson responded to the earlier letter from the yeshiva heads. The rabbis said in their letter that they oppose refusal to serve and stressed that their students would continue serving in the IDF, but not in the Armored Corps. “We are pained by the feeble response of the State of Israel and the IDF,” the rabbis wrote in their letter. “The introduction of female soldiers into tanks together with male soldiers causes spiritual and practical harm to combat capability.”

Among the rabbis who joined the letter were Rabbi Michael Aharonov, Rabbi David Amitai, Rabbi Shlomo Benjamin, Rabbi Eran Tamir, Rabbi Elisha Ninon, Rabbi Eyal Yaakovovich, Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, Rabbi Avihu Fishpfeder, Rabbi Shlomo Shoshan, Rabbi Yehoshua Schmidt and Rabbi David Turgeman. Two additional yeshiva heads asked not to have their names published.

The yeshiva heads said they would not send their students to serve in the corps beginning with the next enlistment cycle. “After serious consideration, we decided that service in the Armored Corps is forbidden under Jewish law,” the rabbis explained. “It is the IDF’s responsibility to ensure that combat-profile soldiers who are not suited for infantry service are placed in a combat framework that fits their fighting spirit.” According to the yeshivas’ statement, because of the fixed allocation in each enlistment cycle, the move will leave hundreds of fighters lacking in the Armored Corps.