Shared facilities
Shared facilitiesצילום: ללא קרדיט

Has the IDF declared war against the traditional and religious public? Officers and soldiers are angry at the IDF decision to actively implement the "Joint Service Order" amendment with all that it implies, including even in bathrooms.

Arutz Sheva has received pictures from military bases in which it was decided to consolidate soldier's bathrooms, leaving no separation. In some cases it was decided to separate only the cells within the bathroom itself.

Soldiers from various bases documented the new reality. The photos clearly indicate that although two separate structures exist for males and females, senior base leadership decided to convert both of them into shared toilets.

In Ground Forces Headquarters, for example, senior leadership went so far as to establish joint bathrooms specifically in the synagogue.

Soldiers and officers who spoke with Arutz Sheva expressed surprise not only at general staff officers, but also the Chief IDF Rabbi who has not been heard from despite all entreaties to him, "The military rabbinate is weak and is not fulfilling its role and commitment towards the soldiers, besides the fact that the top IDF echelon silences the IDF Rabbinate and its leader."

A reserve army chaplain also noted that the laws of modesty set down by the military rabbinate clearly contradict the joint service order, irrespective of the recent IDF decision to harm religious and traditional soldiers and mix bathrooms in bases across the country.

In addition, soldiers and officers noted that shared bathrooms are part of a process taking place in the army in which intensively promotes an extreme agenda vis a vis gender: "The IDF Spokesman, with all its forces, has mobilized for the cause. The IDF Spokesman's Office is working on social networks and not just the official media to promote the new agenda without noticing that it also violates the privacy of female soldiers," one officer told Arutz Sheva. That officer told of female soldiers who complained about the commanders who made the decision to join the bathrooms, also harming them.

The IDF spokesman said in response, "The Joint Service Order defines, among other things, specific procedures regarding billeting, showers, and toilets. It determines that bathrooms be separated by gender, however, it explicitly defines the terms and competent officials to authorize the existence of shared facilities when necessary, while ensuring the user's privacy. This is not a widespread phenomenon. Exceptional cases brought to our attention will be checked and treated as necessary."