A group of 20 religious-Zionist rabbis sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, condemning women’s integration into the IDF and demanding his intervention in the matter to “prevent disaster.”
The letter came in response to the military’s new program, which would include women in the Armored Corps. It was written by leading rabbis in the religious-Zionist sector, belonging to the organization Torat Ha’aretz HaTova.
The letter was titled “Harm to the operational resilience and service capability of soldiers due to the expansion of the integration of female soldiers.”
The rabbis wrote that they were turning to the prime minister “out of deep concern.”
Now, when the army is marching toward a mixture of genders that is forbidden by Judaism, contrary to logic and security needs, we can no longer remain silent,” the rabbis write.
“We are concerned about the accelerating trend toward integrating female fighters into combat and maneuvering frontline units.”
“As has been emphasized more than once, the IDF is not just another army; its strength and the secret of its victory lie in the divine assistance that accompanies it.”
“Maintaining holiness and modesty in the army camp is not a private matter for the religious soldier but a fundamental condition for the strength of the entire army and for divine assistance on the battlefield,” the letter states.
The rabbis claim that if the Armored Corps were “mixed,” it would confront their religious students with an “impossible contradiction” between their faith and their operational service.
The Forum Dvorah organization, which works to advance women in national security and foreign policy, condemned the rabbis’ letter and warned that it was “a direct and serious threat of refusal to serve.”
“Any attempt to condition service or to impose conditions that weaken the fighting array directly harms the security of the state and the resilience of the IDF,” the organization wrote.
Rabbis claims do not reflect operational reality
It said that the rabbis’ claims do not reflect the operational reality in the field where men and women serve together.
“There exists professional cooperation, mutual respect, and genuine comradeship between religious male soldiers and female fighters,” the group said.
Women played an essential role in defending the country on the day of the October 7 Hamas attacks in 2023 and during the subsequent war.
The organization noted that, after October 7, 2023, the debate about women’s integration in the army “was already settled.”
“Whoever carries out the mission and defends the citizens of Israel is an inseparable part of the fighting force. According to IDF data, one out of every five combatants is a woman.”
The group also noted that the IDF is “desperate” for high-quality recruits.
Forum Dvorah underscored that the arguments in the rabbis’ letter do not reflect the views of the entire religious sector.
The organization noted that data indicated that, increasingly, young religious women are choosing to undertake military service – and even enlisting in combat roles.
Despite campaigns opposing women’s integration into the IDF, a new record was broken in the past year, with approximately 4,000 religious female recruits enlisting (the equivalent of 40% of young religious women), the forum said.
Forum Dvorah called on Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz to speak in support of the inclusion of women in the IDF and “to put an end to the political spin being conducted on the backs of those who bear the burden of security day after day.”
The rabbis’ letter also comes amid a wave of controversy this week following the remarks of the leader of the Religious Zionist Party, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said, on Monday, that he would not educate his daughter to draft into the IDF.
Smotrich then doubled down on the statement in an interview with 103FM, saying the IDF is no place for women.
However, the finance minister’s office confirmed that the Religious Zionist Party had not been involved in the rabbis’ letter, speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.