For years, the Israel Defense Forces have been dominated by the national-religious sector, which demonstrates a high motivation to serve, especially in combat units. However, in that same demographic there is institutionalized opposition to the military recruitment of women, mainly due to modesty issues. Instead, national-religious women may perform national service as volunteers in hospitals, educational institutions and social-welfare organizations.
This issue has been quietly debated for years. However, it has recently come to public attention through a petition by dozens of national-religious rabbis calling on the head of the national-religious HaBayit HaYehudi party, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, not to fund nongovernmental organizations that encourage religious women to enlist in the IDF. The Education Ministry recently floated an initiative to create and fund such associations.
