Controversy over mixed-gender IDF units: Rabbis protest after IDF launches pilot program in armored corps

The Israel Defense Forces denied on Wednesday that men and women would serve in the same tanks in the armored corps, after 25 rabbis had threatened that their students would not enlist in the corps due to the joint service.

The rabbis are heads of hesder yeshivas, a special type of religious school that combines the study of the Torah and Talmud with a shortened service in the IDF. Most of the students of hesder yeshivas typically come from the national-religious community and serve in combat units.

The rabbis protested against the new pilot to integrate women into service in the armored corps, which is set to begin in November 2026 following a High Court decision instructing the army to integrate female fighters into tank units.

They noted that they saw the court order with “great severity” and ruled that the joint service of men and women in the armored corps was forbidden under Jewish law. Therefore, they vowed not to send their students into the corps, preferring other combat units instead.

“The IDF is the army of the people of Israel, and the sanctity of the camp is the basis of the IDF’s spirit and of success in defeating the enemy,” they wrote. “Putting female soldiers in tanks together with male soldiers causes spiritual and practical harm to combat capability.”

The military responded with a statement noting that “after approximately two and a half years of an intense, multi-front, and unprecedented war… the IDF needs every male and female combat soldier.”

The statement stressed that, while the IDF “is working to integrate women into combat roles wherever possible,” it is currently only planning to start an “initial trial intended to evaluate the feasibility of future implementation” of female integration into the armored corps, and that currently “there is no scenario in which men and women will serve together within the same framework.”

In recent years, there has been an increasing effort to integrate women into the IDF’s combat units, which has drawn strong criticism from the national-religious community and Haredi soldiers, who refuse to serve in close proximity to women due to concerns of maintaining religious standards of modesty (tzniyut).

While the IDF argues that there will be no mixed-gender tanks and prefers to divide platoons or companies according to gender, male and female soldiers would still have to work closely together at the battalion and brigade levels.

Mixed-gender service has been introduced into units such as the Home Front Command’s search-and-rescue brigades, while mixed-gender formations such as the Bardelas, Lions of Jordan, and Caracal light infantry battalions, which have their own tank companies, were created in recent years.

Female tank soldiers of the Caracal Battalion fought heroically on Oct. 7, 2023, being instrumental in the defense of Kibbutz Holit. However, most regular combat brigades are still exclusively male.

Highlighting the cultural divide at the heart of the discussion about female combat service, Yair Golan, chairman of the far-left Democrats party and a former IDF deputy chief of staff, denounced the rabbis’ letter as “a disgrace.”

“Women will serve wherever they want, and in every role the IDF needs them,” he said. “The IDF is the national army of the people, not a sectarian militia,” he charged.

While left-wing, secular and progressive Israelis often tout the integration of women into combat units as a “step forward” for equal rights and opportunities, right-wing and religious Israelis often criticize it on the grounds of modesty, as well as arguing that the integration requires the lowering of physical standards, ultimately weakening the military and harming national security.

The military itself has tried to steer clear of this divide, stressing its dire need for combat troops as the primary motivation for recruiting more women into combat roles.

Speaking to Ynet News, a senior military source sharply criticized the High Court for forcing the issue, lamenting that “the equation created by the High Court ruling is clear: a few female combat soldiers each year versus giving up many dozens of male combat soldiers in every draft cycle.”

Rabbi David Fendel, head of the hesder yeshiva in Sderot, explained in a video that the opposition to serving in mixed-gender tanks came from the soldiers themselves.

“They come to us, they studied Jewish law, they received it from home, they accepted it themselves, and they do not want to be in a place that is forbidden to them. Just as the army has undertaken not to force someone, God forbid, to desecrate the Sabbath or eat forbidden foods, the purity of the camp is just as simple,” he said.

“Suddenly, in the middle of a war, in the most incomprehensible way, they are putting girls into tanks, which is forbidden according to Jewish law according to all rabbis from across the spectrum. Both 'extremists' and liberals—every rabbi you ask—among all rabbis this is something agreed upon,” Fendel added.

He also hit back at critics who compared the rabbis’ letter to threats to refuse reserve duty by opponents of the government’s judicial reform plans before the war.

“Who dares to speak of refusal? These young men want to serve, are looking for ways to serve, are doing everything they can to be part of this national effort. Please allow us to do so, and let us not divide and tear each other apart. We want to find the right solution together with the State of Israel.”

Last week, the IDF announced that, for the first time, a female combat soldier completed a pilot program in the Sayeret Matkal commando unit, widely seen as the most elite and exclusive of the IDF’s commando units.

However, the IDF noted that the soldier completed a “training track specifically designed for her,” rather than the regular track.

“At this time, maximizing the service potential of male and female soldiers from all sectors and populations is an imperative, and the IDF will continue to work toward this goal,” the IDF stated.