Karim tells IDF: I don’t condone rape, support women soldiers

Following criticism over Eisenkot’s pick for the position of IDF chief rabbi, the head of the IDF Personnel Directorate calls Rabbi Eyal Karim for a conversation about statements he made in the past on rape during wartime and the enlistment of women into the military’s ranks, the army says.

Karim, who was tapped as the next military chaplain before the reemergence of controversial comments he apparently made about rape and on the draft of women soldiers, tells Maj. Gen. Hagai Topolansky that he does not condone rape and that sexual assault against women is never permissible.

The army quotes the rabbi as saying that he “supports and believes in the service of women in the IDF” and points out that he crafted the protocols that allow for better integration of male and female soldiers, while still adhering to the requirements of Jewish law.

— Judah Ari Gross