Overview
- Leaders of the Hesder Yeshiva Union voted Thursday to continue sending students to the Armored Corps for the August draft cycle after talks with IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.
- Zamir has publicly said the army must expand women’s roles in key and combat positions to fill thousands of shortfalled combat slots and that changes will follow the Joint/Shared Service Order.
- The IDF describes the moves as limited pilots and insists there is no plan to mix men and women within the same combat framework while maintaining professional standards.
- Several pre‑military academy heads boycotted Zamir’s meeting in protest after Rabbi Yigal Levinstein was excluded from the invite list, signaling continued splits within the Religious Zionist community.
- Hesder yeshivas supply a disproportionate share of combat recruits, so a sustained refusal to send students could have caused long‑term manpower gaps and the dispute will remain tied to High Court pressure and the pilot results.