How religious female soldiers are transforming the IDF
Female commanders of combat units in the Israel Defense Forces, especially religious women, are provoking apprehension among religious Zionist leaders in Israel.
Anyone who has participated in Israel Defense Forces (IDF) activities of late, or even just covered those activities for that matter, will have noticed a growing presence of women in an increasing number of field positions, including combat positions. All around the world, the IDF is seen as a trailblazer. It is perceived as a liberal army, constantly opening new opportunities for women, who volunteer to serve in combat positions.
The air force already has dozens of women pilots and combat navigators. The navy has women serving on missile boats, while a Dvora-class patrol boat has a woman commander. The infantry can boast of four combat battalions made up of women, who serve mainly along Israel's quieter borders, while the Intelligence Corps has a particularly high number of women, including some who serve in challenging field positions. In February, the IDF announced the launch of a pilot program to train all-women tank teams.
While these developments are taking place, there has been a parallel culture war among the different sectors of Israeli society, focusing on what happens in the army. The announcement that the IDF was examining the possibility of incorporating women in the Tank Corps immediately set off a fight, bringing the phenomenon to the public's attention with a loud blast. Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, the head of the Pre-Military Academy in the settlement of Eli, responded with a violent and threatening speech, in which he called on young women from the religious Zionist sector to refuse to enlist in the army at all. In his speech, he claimed that Jewish women who enlist in the IDF come out "non-Jewish."
His comments prompted a huge storm within the religious Zionist sector. Until recently, women from this sector did not enlist in the army, often opting instead for civil service. The number of women from this sector who do enlist has increased over the past few years, with some of them even volunteering for challenging field positions. Now the more conservative rabbis from this sector have responded to this by declaring war. A number of organizations and groups of activists have hit the streets with flyers and stickers, claiming, "We need to save the IDF." Some of these activists claim that liberal and left-wing agents have infiltrated the upper echelons of the IDF and that they are conspiring to weaken the army so that Israel can be defeated in the battlefield. Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich of HaBayit HaYehudi took it a step further by calling on young religious Zionists to "skip one recruitment cycle" in order to teach the IDF a lesson. In other words, he wants them to attack the IDF's soft underbelly by enlisting less.
