The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday insisted that men and women would not serve together inside the same tanks, in response to a threat by the leaders of 12 yeshivas who had said that they would no longer send their students to join tank units because of a pilot plan to integrate women into the Armored Corps.
The yeshivas are all part of the Hesder program, which allows observant young men, typically national religious, to combine several years of Torah studies with a shortened military service, currently set at 17 months.
“After approximately two and a half years of intense, multifront and unprecedented war, during which the operational missions of the IDF were expanded, and the burden on the reserve forces increased significantly, the IDF needs every male and female combat soldier,” the military said in a statement.
“As the people’s army, the IDF places the highest importance on integrating all populations, while making a great effort to preserve their way of life and needs, in a manner that does not harm one population at the expense of another,” the IDF said.
The rabbis in their letter wrote that they “take a very serious view of the decision by the High Court of Justice to require the IDF to integrate female combat soldiers” in the Armored Corps, after the court ruled last month that the army must begin a trial program for female soldiers to serve in the corps by November, following repeated delays by the military.
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“The High Court of Justice did not instruct the IDF to enlist female soldiers into the Armored Corps, but rather instructed it to conduct the planned pilot on the matter,” the military noted.
Jewish men study torah at the Yeshivat Hesder Yeruham, in southern Israel, February 20, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
The IDF said it is “working to integrate women into combat roles wherever possible.”
“A pilot, by definition, is an initial trial intended to examine the possibility of continuing [the program],” the military stated, adding that the pilot will be conducted in accordance with the military’s protocols on men and women serving together, “while ensuring compliance with all required operational and professional standards, and in accordance with operational needs.”
Despite the claims that men would be forced to serve inside tanks with women, the military has been planning only gender-segregated tanks. This is due in large part to concerns surrounding modesty. If the number of recruits allows, platoons or companies would also be divided by gender. An Armored Corps company is normally composed of 11 tanks.
However, women and men would likely end up serving together at the battalion and brigade levels.
The military said that the pilot has not yet been reviewed by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, “and the issue will be discussed in the near future.”
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir attends a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 10, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The IDF said that in recent months, senior military officials have “maintained continuous contact with the heads of Hesder yeshivas and their representatives, alongside other figures in the religious-Zionist community, regarding this matter.
“The IDF values and appreciates the contribution of all servicemen and servicewomen, including Hesder yeshiva servicemen, to the security effort across all fronts,” the army added.
Among the signatories to the rabbis’ letter were Rabbi Elyakim Levanon and Rabbi Shahar Imber, the joint heads of the Elon Moreh yeshiva, and Rabbi Baruch Wieder, head of Hakotel Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
The leaders of nine yeshivas put their names to the letter, while the heads of another three asked not to be identified, the Ynet news site reported.
Many members of the religious Zionist community currently enlist in the Armored Corps — as well as in the Artillery Corps and various infantry brigades — as part of the Hesder program.
The tentative coed pilot program in the Armored Corps — whose units are trained to enter deep into enemy territory — was originally scheduled to start in 2024. The IDF had previously deemed the program impractical . Its opening was delayed twice during the multifront war, and the IDF last said it was expected to begin in November 2026.
Illustrative: Female soldiers with the IDF Artillery Corps are seen on the border of the Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)
Women already serve in a variety of combat roles in the IDF, in many cases alongside male counterparts. Female soldiers can already serve in tanks in the IDF’s Border Defense Corps as part of an all-female tank company in the Caracal mixed-gender light infantry battalion, which operates along the Egyptian border — not in fighting deep behind enemy lines.
Critics of gender integration in the military often decry it as a dangerous exper…
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