Dozens of yeshiva heads and rabbis sent a letter to Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Wednesday strongly protesting what they said was his more combative stance towards rabbis who opposed the IDF's efforts to gender-integrate combat units.
"We strongly protest to you what you said against the Chief Sephardi Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, and Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu," read the missive. "The Rabbis have a duty to speak and give their halachic ruling just as every public figure has the freedom to express his opinion."
The letter was signed by dozens of rabbis affiliated with the haredi stream of Religious Zionism, including Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Aryeh Stern and Elon Moreh Chief Rabbi Elyakim Levanon.