Dozens of senior Rabbanim from the Dati Leumi community published a letter this week stating that organizations that encourage IDF enlistment must not be permitted entry into Dati Leumi high schools for girls (ulpanot).

As is known, over the years, there has been an increasing trend of girls from the Dati Leumi and Dati sectors choosing to serve in the IDF rather than Sherut Leumi. According to data provided on Tuesday to the Knesset by the head of the IDF’s Manpower Directorate, Major General Dado Bar-Kalifa, the recruitment of religious girls to the IDF has skyrocketed, with 40% of religious girls (from the Dati and Dati Leumi sectors) enlisting in the army.

The letter states that “anyone who encourages IDF enlistment for females harms the army, introduces foreign influences contrary to the Torah, and rebels against the rulings of the Rabbanut throughout the generations.”

The Rabbanim added that the IDF “was not created to achieve progressive agendas, but to win, to save lives, and to bring peace to Am Yisrael.”

A detailed supplementary document for the girls themselves was included with the letter. The document clarified that since the founding of the state, the Rabbanut has repeatedly ruled against drafting women, even in times of emergency; that women’s roles in wartime are defined within halacha as being from the home front; and that integrating women into combat units causes “more harm than good.”

The letter was signed by leading Dati Leumi Rabbanim—including Rav Dov Lior, Rav Yaakov Ariel, Rav Shmuel Eliyahu, Rav Elyakim Levanon, Rav Mordechai Greenberg, Rav David Chai HaCohen, Rav Yaakov Shapira, and many others.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)