16 Givati soldiers sent to prison for refusing to enter APC with female paramedic
Two troops who led the disobedience, which led to cancellation of mission in Gaza, to face committee before being allowed to return to combat duty
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The commander of the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion on Sunday sentenced 16 of his troops to prison after they refused to enter an armored personnel carrier in the Gaza Strip for operational activity last week because a female paramedic was attached to the force.
As a result of their refusal to enter the APC, the mission was canceled.
The military said five troops who led the disobedience were sentenced by the battalion commander to 10 days in military jail. Two of those soldiers will also face a committee before being allowed to return to combat roles.
In addition, another 11 soldiers involved in the refusal were sentenced to five days in prison, the Israel Defense Forces added.
The Rotem Battalion is not an ultra-Orthodox unit, and therefore the soldiers serving there, under the IDF’s protocols, may have to serve alongside women.
The incident was the latest in a series of cases of male Orthodox soldiers refusing to interact with servicewomen in the army, due to the men’s religious sensibilities. The cases play into the larger debate in Israeli society over whether Haredi men must serve in the military, and how much the IDF must do to accommodate their religious observances and strictures.
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