Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, head of the Eli pre-military academy, issued a fresh statement Monday evening urging candidates not to try out for Sayeret Matkal. He asserted the elite unit has become mixed-gender and dismissed claims of an operational-need halachic permit as invalid, according to a statement circulated by the academy.
Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, head of the Eli pre-military academy, doubled down Monday evening with a statement aimed directly at candidates for Sayeret Matkal. In a message posted by the academy, Levinstein accused the unit of becoming mixed-gender and warned recruits not to be misled by promises of separate teams. He flatly rejected the argument that an operational need creates a halachic sanction, calling it invalid. The statement explicitly tells young men to enlist only in units that preserve their religious worldview.
The statement follows an earlier call Levinstein issued earlier on Monday, deepening a campaign by religious-Zionist educators against IDF gender integration in elite combat units. As The Zioneer reported Monday at 22:44 Jerusalem, Levinstein's first statement had already set the tone. This second statement sharpens the language, directly addressing prospective recruits and their families.
The broader context includes a wave of similar calls from pre-military academy rabbis and hesder yeshiva heads over recent weeks, targeting mixed-gender units in the Armored Corps and other elite formations. The IDF has not yet responded to Levinstein's latest statement.
3 developments
- StrongRabbi Yigal Levinstein Urges Candidates to Avoid Sayeret Matkal Over Gender Integration
- StrongPre-army seminary rabbis join hesder yeshiva heads in urging students to avoid mixed-gender units
- DevelopingPre-army academy head says Armored Corps mixed pilot threatens religious soldiers
- DevelopingAnalyst argues gender integration in elite units is no barrier to Mossad, Shin Bet enlistment
Source and signal
- Internal intake