The IDF says it has established another Israeli Air Force technicians unit for Chareidi men, the third such unit overall and the first based at the Tel Nof Airbase, as the military presses on with its efforts to draw bnei torah into its ranks.

The unit is based out of one of the 106th Squadron’s reinforced aircraft shelters at Tel Nof in central Israel. The squadron, known as the Spearhead Squadron, flies F-15 fighter jets out of the base. The IDF says 20 soldiers, 15 of them Chareidi, recently completed their training and are now certified “level A” technicians for the F-15, responsible for keeping the aircraft and their weapons systems operational.

The unit follows a model the IDF rolled out over the past two years. The first Chareidi IAF technician unit was established in December 2024 at the 105th “Scorpion” Squadron at Ramat David Airbase in northern Israel, where 26 soldiers were certified as level A technicians for the F-16. A second unit, also servicing F-16s, was set up at Ramat David’s 109th Squadron the following year. The Tel Nof unit is the first stationed elsewhere and the first to service the F-15.

The army says the units are built to let Chareidi soldiers keep their way of life while serving. The framework ostensibly includes separate accommodation, strict kashrus, and a shul established inside the hardened aircraft shelter.

Under service tracks the IDF approved in February, the air force technician units fall within “Herev,” a fully gender-segregated track whose commanders are generally religious.

The new unit is one piece of a much larger recruitment campaign. The IDF has established several Chareidi frameworks in recent years, among them the Netzach Yehuda Battalion in the Kfir Brigade, the Tomer Company in Givati, the Hetz Company in the Paratroopers, and the newer Chashmonaim Brigade.

The campaign to draft more bnei torah into the IDF remains one of the most divisive issues in Israeli society. A High Court ruling in June 2024 found there was no longer a legal framework permitting the state to refrain from drafting Chareidim, and the army has since issued thousands of draft orders to bnei torah.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)