Religious Zionist Rabbis Warn: If Tank Corps Has Females, Yeshiva Students Won’t Serve There

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Dozens of rabbis and heads of yeshivot from across different religious streams convened for an extended emergency meeting at the home of Rabbi Chaim Druckman z’l in Merkaz Shapira. The gathering followed a High Court of Justice ruling requiring the IDF to begin a pilot program integrating female soldiers into the Armored Corps in the near future.

The meeting, which lasted more than four hours, included leaders of hesder yeshivot,  yeshivot gevohot, and pre-military academies, alongside rabbis from across the spectrum, from more liberal circles to the more conservative national-religious stream. During the discussion, sharp criticism was directed at both the IDF and the High Court, with participants warning of serious harm to the religious way of life of observant soldiers.

According to the rabbis, the reality on the ground is already complex. They say they receive many inquiries from soldiers, sometimes even during operational activity, seeking halachic guidance on how to act in mixed-gender service situations. “The religious soldier is often placed in circumstances that conflict with his faith and with Jewish law,” they argued.

The participants emphasized that their discussion was not about women serving in the IDF per se, but about the direct implications for religious soldiers. They warned that expanding the integration of female combat soldiers into frontline units could effectively lead to the exclusion of observant soldiers from maneuvering combat roles.

Rabbi Yaakov Medan said: “I do not oppose women serving, but we will not serve in a place where there is mixing (of men and women).” Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, a former Knesset member, added: “Religious soldiers will struggle to serve in mixed combat service; it is highly problematic from a halachic perspective.” The rabbis cited the artillery corps as an example.

Earlier this week, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir addressed ongoing debates over Ultra-Orthodox enlistment and women’s service in combat roles. He said: “Given the increasing operational burden, the time has come to expand the number of serving personnel. All parts of the population must share the burden. We will do this not one at the expense of another, but together. Women are an inseparable part of the IDF and its operational strength.” He emphasized: “There will be no exclusion of women in the IDF. Their integration is both ethical, equal, and operationally necessary.”

During the meeting, the rabbis objected to the IDF’s plan to integrate women into armored corps combat roles, arguing it would make service difficult for religious soldiers. Despite differences in many issues in daily life, the participants expressed broad agreement on this matter.

Rabbi Yaakov Medan, who served in an armored unit in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, said: “We will not serve in a field unit where there is mixed service. I do not oppose women serving, but we will not serve where there is mixing. When women were integrated into the artillery corps, we unfortunately stopped serving there. I hope we will not be forced to do the same in armor.”

Rabbi Meir Nahorai said: “We are an inseparable part of the IDF, but we cannot allow our students to serve in mixed-gender environments that place them in impossible situations, such as what is now being proposed in the armored corps.”

Rabbi Yehuda Gilad stressed: “We are not speaking against women’s service. Many religious women serve in the IDF. We are speaking against mixed combat service. Religious soldiers will struggle with this. That could also create a major crisis for reservists, many of whom are religious.”

Rabbi Zalman Melamed added: “It is impossible for a religiously observant person to serve in a mixed environment. In the hesder yeshivot, we have decided not to send students to armored units as long as there is no clear decision that there is no gender mixing.”

Rabbi Shmuel Haber said: “From a Jewish law standpoint, mixed service is like eating non-kosher food—it is simply forbidden.”

Rabbi Chaim Wolfson warned that the Supreme Court ruling is “tearing the army apart and effectively excluding religious soldiers from the maneuvering forces.”

Rabbi Yigal Levinstein questioned the operational reality in combat situations: “In wartime, everything becomes mixed in practice. When a crew is hit and you reassign personnel, a tank may end up with female fighters. What happens then?”

In response to the rabbis’ meeting, chairperson of Naamat, Hagit Pe’er said: “The Chief of Staff must back his statements with action and not yield to this psychological pressure. The truth, which the Chief of Staff and every senior officer in the IDF knows, is that there is no army without women’s service. This is no longer only an important moral issue, but an operational necessity. At a time when entire sectors are evading the duty and privilege of service, the IDF cannot afford to give up female combat soldiers, even if it is less comfortable for some rabbis.”