\u201cTurning the Armored Corps [into a] mixed-gender [unit] will place our students in front of an impossible contradiction between their faith and their operational service,\u201d the rabbis wrote in the letter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the army advances toward gender mixing prohibited by Judaism, contrary to logic and security needs, we can no longer remain silent,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n
The letter was signed by former chief rabbi of Ramat Gan Yaakov Ariel, chief rabbi of Safed Shmuel Eliyahu, head of Mercaz Harav yeshiva Rabbi Yaakov Shapira, former chief rabbi of Jerusalem Aryeh Stern, former chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba Dov Lior, and others from the religious Zionist movement.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n Copies of the letter were also sent to Defense Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.<\/p>\n \t The rabbis claimed that allowing women to serve in tanks in the Armored Corps, similar to how the army opened up the Artillery Corps to women decades ago, will have damaging consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cThis move will effectively exclude Torah- and tradition-observant troops from contributing to Israel\u2019s security solely because of their way of life, which will lead to weakening the entire fighting array and to the destruction of the people\u2019s army. Capitulating to foreign social agendas that are not the concern of the IDF and are not part of the values of victory harms the security of the country, especially at this time,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n Many members of the religious Zionist community enlist in the Armored Corps \u2014 as well as in the Artillery Corps and various infantry brigades \u2014 as part of the hesder yeshiva program.<\/p>\n Hesder yeshivas allow observant young men, typically national religious, to combine several years of Torah studies with a shortened military service currently set at one year and five months.<\/p>\n The rabbis, in their letter, sought to meet with Netanyahu to prevent the integration of women in the Armored Corps, though it is unclear whether the prime minister has the authority to prevent the military from going forward with the pilot program.<\/p>\n \t The army has insisted in the past that it is allowing more women to serve in combat positions out of practical considerations, not due to a progressive social agenda.<\/p>\n Currently, female soldiers can serve in tanks in the IDF\u2019s Border Defense Corps as part of an all-female tank company in the Caracal mixed-gender light infantry battalion, which operates along the Egyptian border \u2014 not in wars or in fighting deep behind enemy lines.<\/p>\n Women soldiers were directly involved in battles to defend against Hamas\u2019s October 7 onslaught, including an all-female tank company that fought for hours<\/a>, killing dozens of terrorists along the border and in communities attacked by the terror group.<\/p>\n The program in the Armored Corps, which the IDF had previously seen as impractical, was originally meant to start in 2024. Its opening has been delayed twice and is now expected to begin in November at the earliest.<\/p>\n \t Despite the claims made by the rabbis and other religious activists, the military has been planning only gender-segregated tank crews, in large part due to issues of modesty, as in some cases crew members must use the bathroom and perform other bodily functions within the confined space of the tank.<\/p>\n Women already serve in a variety of combat roles<\/a> in the IDF, in many cases alongside male counterparts.<\/p>\n According to IDF data from 2025, some 8,500 female soldiers served in combat roles, an increase of nearly 240 percent compared to 2015. In 2025, women made up 21.2% of combat troops.<\/p>\n Critics of gender integration in the military often decry it as a dangerous experiment with potential ramifications for national security, while defenders hail it as a long-needed measure that puts Israel on par with other Western countries.<\/p>\n Detractors note that some requirements for female combat soldiers have been lowered \u2014 which they say is a sign that effectiveness is being sacrificed \u2014 and that servicewomen suffer stress injuries at a higher rate.<\/p>\n \t Amid the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip,\u00a0female soldiers<\/a>\u00a0have been on the frontlines. In September 2024,\u00a0Staff Sgt. Agam Naim<\/a>, 20, a paramedic with the 401st Armored Brigade, was killed in an explosion in Rafah.<\/p>\n The heroic and effective conduct of female combat soldiers during the October 7 onslaught and the ensuing war seems to have significantly boosted the argument for further integration into combat roles, as well as high turnout<\/a>\u00a0among female draftees.<\/p>\n The IDF has said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits \u2014 mostly combat troops \u2014 due to the strain caused by the war.<\/p>\n Legislation being laid out in the Knesset would continue to grant military service exemptions to full-time yeshiva students \u2014 some 80,000 of whom are currently eligible for military service \u2014 while ostensibly increasing conscription among graduates of Haredi educational institutions.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tFemale soldiers with the IDF Artillery Corps are seen on the border of the Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/F250611CG123-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tSoldiers from the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion seen before a swearing in ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City, June 11, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/whatsapp_image_2024-01-11_at_16-17-49-640x400.jpeg\")
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\n\t\tA female IDF combat medic on deployment in the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/F240101TN12-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tFile: Female troops are seen at an IDF staging ground in southern Israel near the border with Gaza. January 1, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n
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