Q&A: Women’s Enlistment in the Army
Women’s Enlistment in the Army
Question
A. Does the Rabbi think it is preferable for a religious female soldier to enlist for service in the IDF or to do national service, when the service in the IDF is in a significant but *non-combat* role? For example, is it preferable for religious girls to go to Unit 8200 and cyber, or is national service good enough?
B. Does the Rabbi think it is permitted/advisable for a religious woman to serve in a combat role in the IDF, and if so, is combat service in the IDF more recommended than national service?
Answer
I think all forms of service are good. It is not the framework that determines things, but what one does within it. If it is a significant contribution and the state allows it – then that is perfectly fine.
As a rule, I think it is not right to go into combat service, for various reasons. Some of them are operational and some are Torah-related. The Torah-related issue could be solved by creating separate, adapted units.
For those who don’t know, there is a shortened 8200 track for national-service girls (two years instead of 4-5 years for female soldiers)
There is also a shortened track in the Mossad and in intelligence.
Theoretically, it is possible to recruit a national-service girl to most intelligence and technology units, it’s just that it looks very bad when a female soldier is required to do pre-army training, three years of regular service like a man plus a year or two of career service, while a national-service girl finishes after two years.