A new IDF General Staff order designed to regulate the integration of chareidi soldiers has been presented to the broader public as a dramatic breakthrough. Supporters claimed the detailed provisions would ensure that a chareidi recruit entering the army would remain chareidi upon discharge, potentially encouraging large numbers of young men from the chareidi community to enlist. However, beneath the celebratory headlines, serious concerns are emerging that the reality on the ground may be far more complicated. In a report published in the newspaper Besheva, several experts outlined what they describe as a significant gap between the promises and the practical implications of the order.

Legal scholar Professor Talia Einhorn reviewed the multi-section directive and identified what she says are loopholes embedded within the language that could allow violations of the seemingly strict conditions outlined in the document. In a position paper published in cooperation with the Torat Lechima organization, Professor Einhorn first points to what she considers the most problematic clause.

Section 3 of the order states: “This order supplements the provisions of the Joint Service Order regarding the service of members of the chareidi public in the IDF. Commanders shall implement the provisions of this order and the instructions issued pursuant to it, while preserving their dignity and in a manner that enables the observance of the faith of all those serving.”

The Joint Service Order, to which the new directive is effectively subordinate, was originally enacted to address the needs of religious soldiers, particularly concerning separation between men and women. However, under that framework, numerous testimonies have accumulated over the years from soldiers in the religious Zionist community who reported being required to serve alongside female soldiers in field operations, guard duty, and other settings—situations they say directly conflicted with halachic standards.

The next clause details the process for acceptance and placement into designated tracks for chareidi recruits: “A candidate for service or a soldier may request to serve in one of the designated service tracks.”

Here, too, Einhorn identifies what she views as a significant vulnerability. According to her, the phrase “may request to serve” leaves ultimate discretion in the hands of the army, allowing it to assign a chareidi recruit to a non-designated framework if it chooses. “The expression ‘may request to serve’ leaves the army with the authority to send him to a non-designated service track. In my view, it should state: A candidate or soldier is entitled to serve in one of the designated service tracks if he meets the criteria,” she argues.

Rabbi Aviad Gadot, chairman of the Torat Lechima organization, also addressed the issue in the Besheva report, describing the order as a profound failure. In his view, the only factor that could draw chareidim into the army is trust—and that trust, he says, is currently at a low point.

“The trust of the chareidim in the IDF is in very poor condition. All the promises that were made to rabbis and chareidi leadership in the past were violated. The order does not restore trust, because it is effectively the Joint Service Order. It becomes clear from it that the IDF leadership is not prepared to give up the progressive culture in favor of Jewish culture. They do not want to give up radical feminism, and when there is a clash – that value prevails, as the order states. Therefore the order does not contribute to chareidi enlistment; perhaps it does the opposite.”

Rabbi Gadot described the development as “a waste and a historic missed opportunity.” He expressed hope that the chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, who is overseeing discussions on the draft law’s wording, will introduce necessary amendments to both the order and the legislation itself. According to Gadot, Knesset member Boaz Bismuth understands the central place of Torah within the Jewish people and recognizes what he calls the manipulations being carried out around the draft law.

“First of all, he must demand that the General Staff order for chareidim not be subordinate to the Joint Service Order. Because that is like saying that the order regarding kashrut would be subordinate to the order regarding non-kosher food, and so on. The gender agenda is the original sin. The Chief of Staff is introducing into the IDF agendas of far-left NGOs; to this day the IDF has not freed itself from the agenda led by the Gender Affairs Advisor.”

According to Rabbi Gadot, the current version of the order is the product of lobbying efforts by various organizations during deliberations in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where demands were raised that women be allowed access to all areas of the military.

“Radical feminists said this in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee,” Gadot said, “and Eyal Zamir comes from those same circles and is now continuing what he did as Deputy Chief of Staff.”

Although the directive asserts that these policies will not affect chareidi soldiers, Gadot argues that the influence of the feminist provisions will ultimately reach even those serving in protected tracks. “According to this order, there could be a chareidi officer who completed a track in the Hasmonean framework, went through an officers’ course in a designated program, but once he finishes he can be assigned as a commander in a mixed battalion. Within the chareidi frameworks there will not be progressive public displays, but in the larger army the chareidi soldier will encounter it in various contexts.”

{Matzav.com}