New IDF directives expanding mixed-gender service in the army discourage observant Jews from enlisting, says a Shas MK, and harms the overall ability of the army to accomplish its mission.
Speaking with Arutz Sheva on Tuesday, MK Michael Malchieli slammed mixed service in the IDF, warning it erodes social cohesion within one of the country’s largest institutions.
“The great rabbis directed us from the very beginning to oppose mixed service, which can cause serious problems. We cannot give an opening to these things.”
The spread of mixed service in the IDF signals the weakening of the army rabbinate’s influence, Malchieli argued, and makes military service less appealing to religious enlistees.
“The status of the IDF Rabbinate is constantly being degraded and weakened. These kinds of changes harm religious soldiers, something that will weigh heavily in the minds of other [potential recruits].”
Members of the national religious community have also condemned the spread of mixed service in the IDF, warning that religious female soldiers have no absolutely no protections shielding them from service alongside men.
“A religious female soldier cannot request to not serve in a mixed-gender unit,” said Yehuda Vald, a member of the Liba Center.
“There is a desire here to make life difficult for the religious soldier,” Vald continued.