A frum candidate in Base 1, IDF Officers’ Training Base was ousted from the prestigious program after refusing to take part in a training event that included females. Despite the assurances and commitment to cater to one’s religious lifestyle, reality in the IDF is another story with its own reality.
According to a report filed by Yaki Amaker on Walla News, the 21-year-old Jerusalem resident was ousted from the program by the base commander, Colonel Avi Gil, accusing the soldier of being “too extreme”.
Gil wrote the cadet acted in an extreme fashion, one that is contrary to the accepted norm for the IDF, which he points out is a Jewish democratic army. “They army does not have room for officers who are extremists. An IDF office is expected to be level headed and moderate. The cadet cannot deny the beliefs of others and refuse to listen to them in the name of his own freedom of religion”.
Gil explains the cadet’s refusal to report for the training exercise due to the presence of females is an unacceptable act.
Commenting on the report, the IDF Spokesman’s Office reported the cadet was ousted from the program due to his lack of discipline and his decision to stray from the accepted norm. After hearing of the decision made by the base commander, the commander of ground forces decided to approve the decision and sign off on ousting the cadet.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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18 Responses
This is actually great news, just wait until they get more orthodox Jews drafted and they turn the whole army into his circus.
Hey we’re is my herring.
Yankel don’t forget the crackers. 😜
If the IDF is unwilling to accomodate having having hareidi officers, then hareidi soldiers will find themselves in same situation as the “Buffalo soldiers” (American colored regiments), or the British “native” regiments – with the out group in the ranks, commanded by their betters. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Oh, so here we go. All the frum Yeshiva bucherim should join the army, but the army has no room for soldiers who are extrimist (IE does’nt want to training with female soldiers). But the army is desperate to have the Frum bucherim, they have to arrest them for not joining, because…… the only goal is to tear them away from torah & yiddishkeit. Thank you our Rabbunim for guiding us not to join this army, we will allways keep on listening to you.
U dont really expect us to believe that the gedolim were right do u? After all isnt this just about SHARING THE BURDEN what louses they ram anything down our throats but scream when we try to IMPOSE our values on them
The IDFs mission is to be a melting pot forcing the integration of non-desirables into Israeli secular culture.
A dose of reality here… a man working in Brooklyn might also have to work with women. Women exist in supermarkets, hospitals and even busses. I think that some of us need to chill a bit here. Was this frum soldier part of Nachal Chareidi? If not, he should’ve expected encountering female soldiers when training.
The “special conditions” that apply inside the charedi units (what used to be called Nachal Charedi) which include no contact with women, do not apply in the army as a whole. A frum soldier who joins an NCO or officer course is informed of this fact, so the young man who entered the course knew what he was getting into.
The fact is that, the way things are set up at the moment, although it’s possible for a frum boy to be a private soldier without compromising basic Torah standards, it isn’t possible for him to secure promotion without doing so,
the army is no place for frum jews -its only their screwed values
Israel is the only army in the world that tries to force gender sameness on women to be men. Its time the dati leumi dayanim protest and put pressure on the army to stop the nonsense of training women with the men
Sorry, without any specifics, how can we rush to the defense of the soldier? If he was expected to practice hand-to-hand combat with a female soldier & was not given a male partner to practice with, that’s one thing. But as Avi Gordon says, frum men have to be in a working environment with women all the time. My husband does!
Details, please, before we rush to judgment.
They couldn’t specifically say that he was kicked out for religious principals, so they usually use the term “incompatible”, since their position is that not everyone deserves to be an officer, so it’s not like you are denying someone a “right” because of his religious stance. This happened a few times when Netzach Yehuda soldiers walked out from a ceremony when a woman was singing. As regular soldiers, they couldn’t be disciplined for that, but in officer’s school, the instructors can do whatever they want.
To number 4 and 5:
Just some FACT updates:
The nachal charedi or ANY other so-called-religious army sections are far from that.
The founders themselves are constantly complaining that the idf is not keeping their promise as to morality issues and gender seperation in those groups!
I heard this from a man who was enrolled in one of those groups.
Avi Gordon has an excellent point.
Jerusalem Mom IS %100 RIGHT. and it is hard to understand the Hesder roshei yeshivas that they allow the Army to break previous agreements about mixing men and women soldiers and forcing Dati-Leumi soldiers to hear Kol Isha. There is no place for religious men in this army.
To Avi- seeing women in supermarkets, etc., is not the same as training with them together in the same unit.
The army is trying to destroy religious men, like Moav.
This is a tempest in a teapot. The soldier in question disobeyed a legitimate order and was disciplined accordingly.
Women, even in combat units, are a fact of life today. Would this soldier have refused training with Deborah?
We don’t have all the facts to understand the situation. If it was a woman librarian on the base, then I guess his concerns were a bit unfounded. On the other hand, if it was a coed barracks, then that’s a different story. Or perhaps it was something in between.
Thank you “hagaon avi gordon” for putting things in the “proper perspective” do you have any connection to tora yiddesgkeit” remember that thr arny us supposed to accomodate religious soldiers? U pay attention to how many pregnancies occur in the army? And do u have the sense to ubderstand that ladies in the army pose zbius issues that you dont encounter in reg business settings or do u simply have an agenda
Moose613:
Have a look at Shoftim 4:9-10. Devorah didn’t train with the army; she accompanied Barak. There is no comparison between then and the IDF, which is designed to “Israelize” the soldiers.