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hesder yeshivas

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Eyal Zamir (center) monitors Israeli strikes on Iran from the IAF war room on June 8, 2026. (IDF)
June 24, 2026, 4:27 pm
IDF chief to rabbis: We’re short thousands of troops, need female combat soldiers
In meeting with religious Zionist leaders angry over women’s inclusion in tank crews, Zamir says integration is ‘of tremendous operational importance’
By Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir attends a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 10, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 17, 2026, 10:38 pm
IDF chief stresses men and women won’t serve in same tanks as part of pilot program
Zamir repeats IDF’s pledge women will serve in a separate framework to men after yeshiva rabbis said they will no longer send their students to Armored Corps due to integration
By Emanuel Fabian
A group of female soldiers take part in a training exercise in the tank commanders' course, in an undated photograph. (Israel Defense Forces)
June 11, 2026, 1:39 am
After rabbis’ threat, IDF says men and women won’t serve in same tanks
Army says options for integrating women don’t include putting them in same vehicle as men, after Hesder yeshiva rabbis vowed to bar students from Armored Corps units
By Emanuel Fabian
Female soldiers operate a tank in the Negev Desert, in an undated photograph. (Israel Defense Forces)
June 10, 2026, 12:28 pm
Yeshiva rabbis say they won’t send students to tank units due to integration of women
Leaders of 12 yeshivas in ‘hesder’ joint study-service program reject plan to allow women to serve with men; IDF source says army in ‘impossible situation,’ critics pan it as refusal to serve
By ToI Staff, Rossella Tercatin and Emanuel Fabian
A group of female soldiers take part in a training exercise in the tank commanders' course, in an undated photograph. (Israel Defense Forces)
April 29, 2026, 7:41 pm
Religious Zionist rabbis say students will not enlist in Armored Corps with women
Heads of yeshivot from both liberal and hard-line sides of the Orthodox community express concern about co-ed tank units after High Court instructs military to start pilot program
By Rossella Tercatin and Emanuel Fabian
Defense Minister Israel Katz seen in the Knesset in Jerusalem, on March 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
April 22, 2025, 5:26 pm
Katz said to reject IDF request to extend ‘hesder’ yeshiva soldiers’ service
Defense minister turns down proposal to lengthen military track as security forces grapple with manpower shortage amid ongoing war
By Stav Levaton and ToI Staff
Laly Derai in an undated photo. (Courtesy)
January 13, 2025, 4:45 pm
The mother of a fallen IDF soldier continues his crusade for universal IDF enlistment
Ahead of a crucial Tuesday Knesset meeting, Laly Derai is advocating for an end to military exemptions for the Haredi community after son Saadia Derai was killed in action in Gaza
By Deborah Danan
Illustrative: The hesder yeshiva in the Itamar settlement in the West Bank, May 2, 2021. (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)
August 19, 2024, 5:50 pm
Report: Gallant approved 7 new ‘hesder’ yeshivas for ultra-Orthodox soldiers
Decision to launch more Haredi establishments that combine military service with Torah studies comes amid bitter dispute over High Court mandating yeshiva students’ enlistment
By ToI Staff
Female soldiers operate a tank in the Negev desert in an undated photograph. (Israel Defense Forces)
November 22, 2022, 12:40 am
Top yeshiva urges students not to join tank corps over mixed-gender training fears
Prominent Har Etzion seminary says it is reacting to IDF adding women to officers’ training course without advance notice, a charge the army denies
By Amy Spiro and Emanuel Fabian
The late Rabbi Achiad Ettinger seen at the gate of Oz V'emuna hesder yeshiva in Tel Aviv, in 2017 (YouTube screenshot)
April 26, 2019, 2:31 pm
Vandals attack Tel Aviv yeshiva of rabbi slain in terror shooting
Gate of religious seminary founded by the late Rabbi Achiad Ettinger removed from its hinges; police investigating
By ToI Staff
Flowers lay on the grave of late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin during a memorial service marking 21 years since his assassination, held at Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on November 4, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 14, 2018, 11:45 am
Religious soldiers jailed after refusing to visit Rabin’s grave, going AWOL
Four servicemen sentenced to 14 days in prison after they refuse to visit the burial site of Israel’s assassinated PM while on an army trip
By Judah Ari Gross
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman attends the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, on March 6, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 29, 2017, 6:55 pm
Liberman backpedals on demand that pre-army yeshiva head resign
Defense Minister says he will limit size of program after AG rules he doesn’t have authority for ultimatum against Yigal Levinstein over sexist remarks
By Judah Ari Gross and ToI Staff
Female soldiers from the mixed-gender Caracal Battalion train in southern Israel on December 10, 2014. (IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
March 29, 2017, 9:10 am
AG: Liberman can’t summon rabbi over ‘sexist’ comments
Mandelblit concludes punishing Eli yeshiva chief for disparaging female soldiers is beyond defense minister’s authority
By Stuart Winer
Rabbi Eli Sadan speaks during a protest in front of the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on February 21, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 17, 2017, 1:20 am
Israel Prize-winning rabbi rejects call to fire provocative colleague
Eli Sadan refuses to ‘cooperate with dictatorship‘ in having Yigal Levinstein fired for comments against women soldiers
By ToI Staff
Education Minister Naftali Bennett (L) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a plenum session in the Knesset on December 5, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 16, 2017, 3:48 pm
Bennett blasts Netanyahu for failing to defend pre-army academy
Amid uproar over rabbi who called female soldiers ‘crazy,’ education minister tells PM he ‘abandoned religious Zionism’
By Alexander Fulbright and Judah Ari Gross
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