The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is set to meet on Thursday to address the challenges of preserving the rights and service conditions of female soldiers while facilitating the integration of haredi men into the IDF.
The session comes as the coalition moves forward with legislation that would regulate exemptions for haredi yeshiva students from mandatory military service.
A briefing document distributed ahead of the meeting outlines several key topics, including a request for updated data from the Defense Ministry, the IDF, and the Justice Ministry.
Lawmakers are expected to examine whether incorporating haredi soldiers into the IDF affects the standing or rights of female personnel.
Among the central items on the agenda is a review of the current participation of women across the IDF, including compulsory service and reserves. Committee members will also consider female representation in command roles and combat positions, trends in recruitment and placement, and differences in screening procedures between male and female conscripts. In addition, data is to be presented on units where women are not currently permitted to serve.
The committee is also expected to address aspects related to the integration of haredi soldiers into the IDF, and will examine how the military balances the obligation of service with the need to preserve a religious lifestyle.
The IDF will be asked to detail its approach to accommodating religiously observant soldiers.
This includes existing directives aimed at protecting religious norms, how these are implemented in units with haredi soldiers, and whether such policies affect mixed-gender service environments.
The army will also be expected to outline its operational framework for absorbing haredi recruits and the extent of gender-based separation within these tracks.
Key question
A key question for the committee is whether any changes have already been made to the deployment or service conditions of female soldiers to enable the recruitment of haredim.
Lawmakers intend to assess the legal and practical implications of such changes and ensure they do not result in gender discrimination.
Some observers have expressed concern that fulfilling both objectives may be inherently contradictory. In the Hasmonean Brigade, for example, which is composed exclusively of haredi soldiers, women are entirely absent.