Religious Zionist MK Ohad Tal, a member of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, slammed the IDF for its conduct regarding religious and Chareidi soldiers seeking to maintain their religious lifestyle during military service.
Speaking in an interview with Kol Chai, Tal said that at the same time that the IDF is fighting on several fronts simultaneously and grappling with a shortage of manpower, part of the military system is busy promoting “progressive agendas” instead of practical solutions for recruiting additional combat soldiers.
“We are still in the middle of a campaign with extremely difficult challenges,” Tal said. “The road is still ahead of us. We must decisively win on every front, and we do not intend to stop before that happens.”
Tal then turned to the issue of mixed-gender service in the military, describing incidents that deeply disturbed the religious public.
“Absurd things are happening that no one could have imagined,” he said, saying that the integration of women into tank units without strict enforcement of the IDF’s separation guidelines harms religious soldiers who seek to preserve their religious way of life.
According to Tal, the deepest crisis is not only among soldiers themselves but also between the IDF leadership and Religious Zionist Rabbanim.
“All the Religious Zionist Rabbanim are deeply troubled by this,” he said, adding that IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has been refusing to meet with Roshei Yeshivos of Hesder yeshivos for months, including Rabbanim considered part of the more moderate Religious Zionist camp.
“Even Ehud Barak always met with the Roshei Yeshivos of the Hesder yeshivos,” Tal said. “It’s unclear what is happening here.”
Tal tied the crisis to the broader issue over Chareidi enlistment, arguing that it’s unfathomable for the IDF to demand trust from the Chareidi sector when the Religious Zionist sector also feels disrespected.
“Don’t tell me you want to see Chareidim in the army,” he said. “How can you even talk about drafting Chareidim when you haven’t upheld a single commitment you made to the Religious Zionist sector?”
Tal added that a plan to establish Chareidi tank units was submitted to the IDF over a year ago, but it was never advanced. “Now it’s becoming clear why,” he said. “Because for them, integrating women into tank units is apparently more urgent than integrating Chareidim.”
It should be noted that Israel’s High Court and the left-wing organizations that take advantage of the Court’s corruption also play a large role in the army’s progressive agenda, with the most recent example being the Court’s ruling demanding that the IDF integrate women into tank units this year.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
