IDF Chief of Personnel Major-General Orna Barvibai told a session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee on Monday, 28 Teves 5772, that due to current security realities everyone must serve in the military and continue significantly to the nation’s security. She was addressing a committee session dealing with chareidi enlistment in the military.
Regarding induction into the military, the senior officer told committee members that one in every four eligible inductees does not serve and this needs to change due to current security realities, speaking of the need for “substantial military service”.
Barvibai recently came out strongly against the kol isha position taken by frum soldiers, stating there will not be discrimination against women in the military, vowing the voices of female soloists will be heard at military ceremonies.
MK (Kadima) Shaul Mofaz, a former IDF chief of staff added that if the current trend continues, the IDF will become the army of only half the nation instead of being the people’s army.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
“MK (Kadima) Shaul Mofaz, a former IDF chief of staff added that if the current trend continues, the IDF will become the army of only half the nation instead of being the people’s army.”
The IDF does NOT have to be the ARMY of only half the nation,
BUT…
Female singers CAN become the entertainment of only half the IDF, i.e. the not-yet-frum half.
Mofaz is making a ridiculous statement to suggest that female singers are a necessary part of the army of Israel.
Mofaz is one more example of the fallacy of thinking that because someone was an IDF general, it means that he will make a great (or even a good) government leader. Examples of that flawed reasoning are found all over the Knesset.
Very interesting. According to the article, the session was about inducting chareidim. Yet she maintains that one in every four eligible inductees does not serve. Chareidim do not make up nearly 25% of the population. If due to security concerns, everyone must serve, then the government must focus on those other populations who are not serving just as it focuses on the chareidim.
Unless, of course, the agenda is political rather than security-related……
So to show they are serious about recruiting Orthodox Jews, how about a law requiring modest clothing at all times, following the halachas and minhagim of yichud and negiah, respecting all religious customs (such as kol isha), agreeing that promotions and job assignmnents will not be rigged in favor of hilonim (e.g. ability to read Shakespeare should count for much less than ability to read gemara).
The reality is Israel would probably be better defended by professional soldiers rather than conscripts. Given current technology, unhappy teenagers aren’t really what an army needs anymore. Conscripts were needed back in the days when there was a great demand for “cannon fodder” – but modern cannons no longer need fodder – they need well educated, enthusiastic people.
Hey! I want to know why there aren’t any compulsory belly-dancer shows or caberet performance opportunities in the army? What, our female soldiers’ opportunities are being sidelined in THAT area too?? Disgusting.
Even forgetting about the fact that the non-presence of Torah-observant male soldiers does not have to stop women singing till they are blue in the face if that’s what they believe is what is necessary for the national security of the country, what IDIOT can claim that by it is ‘degrading’ someone by refusing to force people to listen to him or her??