While the more liberal stream of the dati leumi community is becoming increasingly outspoken in support of women serving in the IDF, the mainstream rabbonim are not changing the long-standing psak prohibiting it. The fact is however that there is a growing number of religious women entering the IDF, as was reported by YWN-ISRAEL.
Ironically, just a few days after the issue of religious women serving in the IDF was a prominent news item, statistics are released documenting that one out of every eight females in the IDF is assaulted!
According to the date presented to members of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women, 561 male and female soldiers reported being attacked in 2013 as opposed to 511 in 2012. This information was obtained from Brigadier-General Rachel Tevet, who is the chief of staff’s advisor on issues pertaining to women in the military.
49% of the attacks were physical and the remainder verbal threats. 4% resulted in the woman being dishonored and the others various levels of physical assault including unwanted physical contact of different degrees.
There were also 396 complaints filed by soldiers targeted in a civilian setting, outside the IDF framework. This represents a significant increase compared to 266 attacks in 2012.
The data adds that 9% of the victims were men, as opposed to only 4% two years ago. Military officials believe the number has not risen as much as more male soldiers are willing to report such acts to official channels.
Of close to 1,000 complaints in 2013, only one victim had his profile lowered to 21 and left the IDF. In all of the other cases the tools were provided to permit victims to continue dealing with their responsibility within the IDF framework.
Committee Chairwoman Dr. Aliza Lavie is fearful and critical of what she calls the IDF’s light-handed punishments in recent cases involving senior officers. She questions if the current system shouldn’t be replaced by an external judicial system.
Brigadier-General Tevet is pleased that they have managed to get the message out to soldiers, who no longer fear stepping forward to file a complaint of harassment and/or assault.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
The IDF is infamous for having the worst kinds of znus in their ranks.
So what else do you expect when you throw young men and women together in a closed environment for long periods of time. Sexual harassment is always a problem in such an environment. The hormones will not be denied.
..And this is the army that they want to compel Yeshiva bnoys to join. What a joke!
This has always been the case, which is why some rabbanim have held, since the beginning, that the IDF has a din of a “Beis Boosha” (which we probably aren’t allowed to translate on YWN). In a Jewish state this wouldn’t be a problem, even if women were in the military (just as many Jewish institutions have female employees), however a Jewish state would exclude anyone non-frum from being in the army (or from running the government), and I wouldn’t hold my breath until the hilonim get up and leave Eretz Yisrael (or do tseuvah, which is probably less likely).
There is also the question about whether by particpating in the IDF, you have a din similar to someone who is engaged in a permissable activity, that supports a non-permissable activity (e.g. a German serving as a file clerk at a concentration camp, a cook for a military unit engaged in prohibited activities such as murder and things we can’t discuss here, etc.)
Whichever rabbis you hold by on women serving in the IDF, sexual assaults are asur according to all opinions and they need to be stamped out!
Instead of “Ironically, just a few days after the issue of religious women serving in the IDF was a prominent news item, statistics are released documenting that one out of every eight females in the IDF is assaulted!” the paragraph should read, “in an open sign of hashgachah pratis and a bas kol of sorts, just a few days after. . . ”
“While the more liberal stream of the dati leumi community is becoming increasingly outspoken in support of women serving in the IDF, the mainstream rabbonim are not changing the long-standing p’sak. . . ”
Please consider the following. Dati leumi, commonly translated as the National Religious Party or the Religious Zionist Party, should perhaps be translated as Religious Nationalists. Similar to the question is it Jewish American or American Jewish.
All souls are full of potential. All people were created b’tzelem E-loikim. Nobody can claim to know the value of anyone else or their accomplishments. But the p’sak of the Chazon Ish and the Brisker Rav that it is yeihareig v’kol yaavor for a Jewish girls to join the IDF should create at the very least a sofek d’oraisa (leaving all questions of hashgofah aside).
These foolish women go against the rulings of the Zionist Chief Rabbis, not to mention, lihavdil, the sages of Klal Yisrael who have always categorically forbade women from joining the den of immorality and shmad that is the IDF.
The shmad is astonishing.