Rabbi Ze'ev Sharon, head of the pre-military academy 'Arzai Halevanon,' warns of the implications of integrating women into the Armored Corps.
"As in weightlifting, there are no men and women in the same profession because the man's muscle mass differs from that of a woman. So in the Armored Corps, where there is hard physical work, there is no comparison between men and women. I do not underestimate the motivation of the girls to contribute to the state, but I have no doubt that at the moment of truth, a squad of women will not be able to survive on its own" Rabbi Sharon said.
Rabbi Sharon mentioned the report of the Ombudsman for Soldiers that was published this week. Maj. Gen. (res.) Brick said this week that there is a decline in military fitness, and perhaps this has to do with the fact that they lowered the threshold because of the female soldiers. We send the girls to the borders today, but when the real test comes there will be a problem."
Rabbi Sharon fears that the armored corps will be hurt by the integration of the women and called on the army to decide whether it prefers to have more female combat soldiers or more religious soldiers. "In the past, they also said that there would be one battalion involved and today there are already ten. I think the army has to decide what is more important to him - religious soldiers who observe Halakha and want to fight, or having boys and girls together."
"The Armored Corps is desperate for graduates of hesder yeshivas and pre-army preparatory programs. In my estimation, there is a fear that because of the integration of religious girls, they will not go to the Armored Corps, so a chief armored officer says there will be no mixing of boys and girls.
"In our preparatory program, we encourage students to go to places where there is less demand, but today there are many concerns. I have students in the preparatory program who sometimes get a summons to enlist in the Karakal [mixed] battalion, so you see that there is always leakage."