A group of some 200 rabbis from the national religious camp have issued a scathing letter, criticizing the Israeli military for what they say are its policies that single out the religious recruits.
The letter, first reported by Israel Hayom on Monday, was also signed by the heads of several religious prearmy academies – men who traditionally identify with the Israel Defense Forces and its policies.
The letter said: "We, rabbis and yeshiva heads, believe the IDF is an inseparable part of the process of the [Jews'] return to Zion and we educate our students to show loyalty and devotion for our army. We want to caution that in the recent past, our beloved army has also been cultivating extreme liberal cultural views that come at the expense of the IDF's principal responsibility - to deliver Israel from its enemies and ensure our hold on our holy land – to the detriment of national unity.
"This grave phenomenon," the letter continued, "is evident, for example, in efforts to re-educate IDF officers, mixed-gender service directives, measures to increasingly impede religious girls from being granted military service exemptions, and active efforts to encourage them [religious girls] to serve in the military rather than in a national civil service program.
"In light of this, we are encouraging our students and all IDF soldiers everywhere to steadfastly stand up for their moral, humane and halachic obligations as they pertain to mixing the sexes [in military units] and the observance of religious law, should they be faced with an illegitimate or immoral demand.
"It is the refusal to participate in actions that violate our Torah and run contrary to common sense that are preventing the IDF from devolving into moral chaos," the rabbis concluded.
Among other things, the letter is a response to the IDF's dismissal earlier this month of a prominent rabbi from his position in the reserves after he said the IDF was "destroying families" by encouraging women to enlist.
Rabbi Tzvi Kostiner, a longtime critic of women's military service, had accused the IDF of "waging a cultural war and trying to destroy families" by encouraging young women to serve in an ever-growing list of roles, including combat roles.
