IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has decided that the pilot to integrate female combat soldiers into the Armored Corps will be conducted outside the corps, after the program prompted threats from heads of hesder yeshivas not to send their students to serve in the corps, according to an Israeli media report.
The IDF Chief of Staff has relocated the controversial pilot to integrate female combat soldiers into the Armored Corps to a framework outside the corps itself, a report Wednesday said. The decision follows months of tension with the religious-Zionist education stream, after heads of hesder yeshivas threatened to halt Armored Corps enlistment over the program.
As The Zioneer reported over recent days, the dispute escalated rapidly: on June 10, the IDF told yeshivas the pilot would follow joint-service regulations, but rabbis from pre-military academies and 13 additional hesder yeshivas soon joined the protest. The Union of Hesder Yeshivas said it was in ongoing talks with the military to enable halakha-compliant enlistment. Rabbi Yigal Levinstein also publicly urged recruits to avoid elite units over gender integration.
The new decision appears to be a compromise aimed at preserving religious soldiers' service in the Armored Corps while advancing the pilot. The exact framework for the pilot outside the corps has not been detailed. The report cited unnamed military sources; the IDF Spokesperson has not yet issued an official statement confirming the move.
6 developments
- StrongChief of Staff Zamir: Army will integrate all sectors to serve side by side
- DevelopingReligious-Zionist organization Torat Lechima accuses IDF chief of radical feminism, calls on government to block women in Armored Corps pilot
- DevelopingPre-army academy head says Armored Corps mixed pilot threatens religious soldiers
- DevelopingHesder yeshiva heads say they have secured framework on female tank crew recruitment
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