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IDF female religious soldiers

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
Female officers in the Border Defense Corps (IDF)
May 21, 2025, 12:48 pm
Lacking Haredi manpower, IDF turns to womanpower: 1 in 5 fighters are now female
During recent Knesset committee discussions, IDF representatives revealed that women now make up 20.9% of the combat force. Among them are a growing number of religious women
By Tal Schneider
(L to R) Rabbanit Hila Naor, Shira Winter and Adva Bucholtz meet at the Tel Hashomer IDF induction center in Ramat Gan on November 26, 2024. (Ohr Torah Stone)
March 28, 2025, 4:07 pm
A new IDF combat platoon lets religious women join the fight while keeping the faith
Spurred by October 7 and bolstered by shifting mores, an all-female force is taking shape within the army, complete with a rabanit to serve the trailblazing troops’ spiritual needs
By Mati Wagner
Education Minister Naftali Bennett speak at a press conference announcing the launch of his New Right party's 'New South' campaign, in Ashdod on March 26, 2019 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 12, 2019, 3:30 pm
Bennett assails Jewish Home, which he once led, after MK accuses him of betrayal
New Right chairman says his former party now prides itself on opposition to female military enlistment and LGBTQ rights
By Jacob Magid
Illustrative: Female Artillery Corps soldiers march and salute during a ceremony on February 25, 2015. (IDF Spokesperson's Unit/Flickr)
May 29, 2017, 10:34 pm
Twice as many religious women volunteering for IDF
Rabbinical objections notwithstanding, new data shows rise in observant female soldiers from 930 in 2010 to 2,000 in 2015
By Tamar Pileggi
Eli pre-army academy heads Rabbi Eli Sadan (L) and Rabbi Yigal Levinstein protest outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house in Jerusalem against the government's response to a wave of terror attacks, July 1, 2015. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
March 22, 2017, 6:00 pm
Defense Ministry summons pre-army academy heads over sexist comments
Avigdor Liberman has threatened to cancel recognition of Eli yeshiva over Yigal Levinstein’s disparaging of female IDF soldiers
By Raoul Wootliff
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman visits the Tel Hashomer IDF base, where he spoke to new army recruits, on March 19, 2017. (Flash90)
March 19, 2017, 9:07 pm
Liberman summons rabbi he demanded resign over sexist comments
Defense minister has threatened to cancel recognition of pre-army religious program over Yigal Levinstein’s disparaging of female IDF soldiers
By Tamar Pileggi
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
Illustrative: Female soldiers of the Caracal Battalion, November 2007. (Yoni Markovitzki/IDF Spokesperson/Flash90)
March 16, 2017, 10:41 am
Liberal Orthodox rabbis ban service in mixed combat units
Beit Hillel organization also signs plea for army chiefs to show sensitivity, not segregate religious soldiers into ‘ghettos’
By ToI Staff
A religious school for girls in Gush Etzion, September 1, 2009 (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
January 29, 2014, 4:35 pm
Religious girls enlisting to IDF in record numbers
Rabbinical objections notwithstanding, data shows significant rise in Orthodox female draftees in recent years
By ToI Staff
Education Minister Shai Piron (L) and Finance Minister Yair Lapid, November 18, 2013 (photo credit: Flash90)
January 13, 2014, 3:54 am
Education minister backs rabbis’ ban on Orthodox women in IDF
Shai Piron contradicts party leader Lapid, who called for clerics’ dismissal for ruling that observant females shouldn’t serve
By Marissa Newman
Female soldiers stationed at an Iron Dome battery, August 2011 (photo credit: Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
January 10, 2014, 11:19 pm
Livni, Lapid slam Rabbinate over female conscription
Ministers respond harshly to top religious body’s decree that observant Jewish women should not serve in the military
By Yoel Goldman
Synagogue at an IDF training base (photo credit: Gili Yaari/Flash90)
September 30, 2013, 11:28 pm
Female soldier called up to Torah on military base
Some male congregants scandalized after civilian officiant summons woman to utter benedictions during holiday service
By Lazar Berman
Shmuley Boteach
March 4, 2013, 10:48 am
Shmuley Boteach
Loving America by serving in Israel’s army
There are US patriots who don the uniform of a persecuted people so that Tel Aviv can be as free as Tuscaloosa
Religious 12th graders during a pre-army training week (Photo credit: Courtesy: Avichai Deri/ Aluma)
January 2, 2013, 3:37 pm
On a wing and a prayer
The graduation last week of the army’s first female religious pilot-navigator highlights a significant rise in Orthodox women choosing to serve. It’s proving a revelation for enlistees and the IDF alike
By Mitch Ginsburg
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