A stormy confrontation broke out Thursday during a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting as lawmakers debated the IDF’s controversial Joint Service Order, which governs the integration of male and female soldiers in military units.
The session quickly escalated when MK Tzvi Succot (Religious Zionist Party) accused opposition members of using the debate to advance political goals at the expense of the army’s cohesion.
“You are trying to destroy the army to overthrow the government,” Succot charged, directing his remarks at Labor MKs Efrat Rayten-Marom and Gilad Kariv. Kariv responded without hesitation: “Yes, we want to overthrow the government.”
Succot later doubled down in tweet, writing: “Shamefully, there are MKs who would sabotage the army to bring down the government. Today we discussed preserving the Joint Service Order for religious soldiers currently serving, and they lost control. We won’t let them.”
At the center of the debate is the Joint Service Order, originally enacted in 2015, which requires all soldiers, including those who are religiously observant, to serve in mixed-gender units unless granted an exemption under religious law. Critics argue the policy undermines the values and rights of religious soldiers, while supporters say it ensures gender equality and unity within the military.