{"id":28499,"date":"2018-07-19T11:39:59","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T08:39:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toravoda.org.il\/?p=28499"},"modified":"2018-07-31T13:38:55","modified_gmt":"2018-07-31T10:38:55","slug":"68-israelis-support-civil-marriage-poll-finds-2-2-2-2-3-2-3-3-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toravoda.org.il\/en\/68-israelis-support-civil-marriage-poll-finds-2-2-2-2-3-2-3-3-2-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender separation front targets IDF"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published in ynet by\u00a0Guy Lieberman\u00a0|<\/span>Last update:\u00a0 17\/7\/17 , 11:33<\/span>\u00a0Click here for the article<\/a><\/p>\n

In a late afternoon hour, some 10 young men wearing skullcaps settled at the busy junction connecting Hanesi\u2019im and Yud Dalet Habanim streets in Petah Tikva. After hanging signs with the slogan \u201cSaving the IDF,\u201d they began handing out olive green pamphlets to the passersby.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your goal?\u201d we asked the activist who placed PR material in our hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo stop the joint service order, to return to the proper integration,\u201d he replied, as if reading from a hidden message box.<\/p>\n

We tried to find out who had sent him. \u201cIt\u2019s an association of reserve soldiers,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you a reserve soldier?\u201d we asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m a yeshiva student,\u201d he responded. Nevertheless, he was able to tell us that the joint service order, which brings male and female soldiers together in a growing variety of roles, is harming the IDF and its performance. \u201cIt\u2019s according to data, studies conducted by the army,\u201d he added.\u00a0Brothers in Arms supporters in action. \u2018This madness must be stopped,\u2019 pamphlets read<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, we were approached by another activist. A 16-year-old boy with a bright skullcap covering a large part of his curly hair and a confident look in his pleasant eyes. \u201cThey try to do joint service together, and it harms the general service,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it because it harms religion?\u201d we asked. \u201cIt\u2019s unrelated to religion. Actually, it is related to religion,\u201d he replied and approached a driver at the traffic light.<\/p>\n

The joint service issue has been dividing the country in recent months. Those welcoming the IDF\u2019s liberal spirit and the equal opportunity for women in more and more army units have been faced by a growing number of people who are opposed to joint service, citing different reasons and arguments: women\u2019s inferior combat abilities, which affect the IDF\u2019s performance; numerous injuries and unsuitability for combat service; damage to moral and religious values; fear of sexual harassment; the creation of tensions and unnecessary distractions; etc.<\/p>\n

The opponents are supported by an unusual campaign which has been taking place for a long time now in different intersections, in parlor meetings and online, under the incisive slogans \u201cSaving the IDF\u201d and \u201cStop the madness.\u201d In an unusual manner, the public campaign aims to intervene in the military and lead to the cancellation of an IDF order: The joint service order. But while the campaign\u2019s objectives are clearly defined, the identity of the people pulling the strings of the battle is quite unknown.<\/p>\n

On the website and Facebook page created as part of the struggle, they are called Brothers in Arms and are described as a group of reserve officers who \u201cwhose identities will be made known when the need arises.\u201d But although their public activity has been going on for a long time, their names have yet to be revealed. A Yedioth Ahronoth investigation tried to uncover the identity of the people and bodies associated with this impulsive campaign, and found plenty of figures and associations involved in the activity, some of which even receive public funds originating in government ministries.<\/p>\n

In between, we managed to reach some of those reserve officers and maybe even understand the reason for the vagueness regarding their identity. \u201cThey don\u2019t want to lose their positions in the army,\u201d we were told.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most significant conclusion, however, from the attempt to trace these organizations is that this is not a campaign launched by individuals, who seek to challenge the army\u2019s moves. It\u2019s a considerable segment which is considered influential among the Religious Zionism movement and whose ideas are gaining popularity among a growing public.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, and in a bid to lead to the cancellation of the joint service order, they have an action plan based on creating \u201csignificant and wide public pressure on the decision makers to intervene in processes taking place in the IDF\u201d\u2014even if it involves a personal attack on senior military officials, and even encouraging soldiers to complain to the military ombudsman about the joint service.<\/p>\n

Extensive activity
\nThe joint service order was approved by IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot last September. \u201cThe joint service policy,\u201d it states, \u201caims to fulfill the IDF\u2019s operational mission and maintain the military system\u2019s unity\u2026 Commanders will implement the joint service policy as much as possible, without separating between male and female soldiers or between different populations of soldiers, unless defined otherwise in this order or in directives derived from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The order addresses the difficulties of religious soldiers, stating: \u201cA soldier observing a religious lifestyle may ask to avoid joint activity with members of the opposite sex\u2014including guard duty, navigation and travelling in a vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue sparked a fiery public debate, which grew more intense concerning female soldiers\u2019 service in the Armored Corps. At the height of the dispute, retired high-ranking officers, such as Major-General (res.) Yiftah Ron-Tal and Brigadier-General (res.) Avigdor Kahalani\u00a0spoke out strongly against women\u2019s service in tanks.<\/p>\n

\u201cA woman’s job is to be a mother and bring children into the world. After enduring the trauma of war, she’ll be completely different,\u201d Kahalani said. According to Ron-Tal, \u201cPutting men and women together inside a tank is colossally crazy\u2026 It\u2019s a scandal which has the ability to harm everything, including the IDF’s abilities.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a controversial campaign has been launched to cancel the joint service order. \u201cEveryone loves the IDF,\u201d the Brothers in Arms website states. \u201cWe want a strong, winning IDF. Our IDF is the people\u2019s army. Let\u2019s protect it. Save the IDF\u2014stop the joint service!\u201d<\/p>\n

The website includes statistics on women\u2019s injuries in combat roles and quotes from the press aimed at illustrating the difficulties of joint service, and calls on readers to share their experiences. \u201cDo you have a story to share? Send it to us on WhatsApp.\u201d<\/p>\n

The protest doesn\u2019t end there. The extensive activity includes handing out PR material and organizing parlor meetings, and there is even a call center urging people to order a sign to hang from their balcony. Last April, Brothers in Arms activists handed out PR material and bracelets with the caption \u201cStop joint service\u201d at a festive even of the Bnei Akiva movement in Latrun, in the presence of Education Minister Naftali Bennett.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s online activity includes an elaborate animation clip, which has racked up thousands of views. It focuses on an \u201cimaginary\u201d kingdom with an army that has been weakened because of the king\u2019s \u201cadvisor on equality affairs.\u201d Another recently distributed video criticizes IDF chief Eisenkot for underrating the rise in women\u2019s integration in combat units, while an opposite process is taking place. Another distributed booklet refers to Brigadier-General Moti Almoz, head of the IDF’s Manpower Directorate, as a \u201cPR agent promoting social agendas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our attempt to uncover the identity of the people behind the campaign turned out to be quite a difficult mission. We learned that there is no active association against joint military service registered as Brothers in Arms, the name used to brand the struggle.<\/p>\n

According to the organization\u2019s website, the campaign\u2019s leaders are \u201ca group of 15 retired officers, who are letting the ground speak for them.\u201d A pamphlet we received in one of the junctions, urging people to donate money to the organization, described the activists as reserve soldiers.<\/p>\n

But in a conversation with one of the religious young men handing out PR material against joint service, we learn of a connection between the campaign and Har Hamor Yeshiva in Jerusalem, a leading religious Zionist yeshiva whose president is Rabbi Zvi Yisrael Tau.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Tau, 80, is a highly influential national Haredi leader, who is seen as the rabbi of many officers and fighters and as an authority for some of the pre-military academies\u2019 rabbis. According to Har Hamor Yeshiva\u2019s website, \u201cMany security officials see the yeshivas\u2019 rabbis as a beacon instilling spirituality in them before they go out to battle. High-ranking officers frequently visit the yeshiva\u2019s rabbis in Jerusalem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabbi Tau\u2019s view on the joint service issue is clear. Booklets handed out in synagogues in multiple copies in March feature quotes from the rabbi\u2019s lessons, including scathing criticism against the IDF, asserting that the joint service order is \u201cthe most destructive process\u201d in the IDF.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are posts today at junctions in Judea and Samaria, which are manned by two male soldiers and two female soldiers who are locked there together for a long period of time, and they sleep there in one bed over another\u2026 There are even places where they share a bathroom,\u201d Tau is quoted as saying in the booklet. \u201cThere has also been talk about integrating girls into the Armored Corps. We all know what it would mean to put a female soldier in a tank. Four people in such a small space, and when the tank moves it swings from side to side, and there is no way to avoid contact\u2026 This leads to the most blatant immorality.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026If instead of protecting security, they are dealing with all kinds of \u2018values\u2019 which contradict the most basic level of humanity, it means they have lost their way\u2026 Unfortunately, there are also rabbis who are in a state of shock and aren\u2019t doing their job at this time. There are also sophisticated attempts to silence rabbis. They set meeting for them with the chief of staff or the head of the Manpower Directorate\u2026 He promises them to appoint a committee and solve all of the yeshiva students\u2019 problems. In practice, he persists, and we keep pinning false hopes on him,\u201d Tau states, suggesting that \u201cwe go to the people and let them know what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Har Mor association has been receiving unusually high donations in recent years, around NIS 20 million (roughly $5.6 million) a year. The yeshiva\u2019s donor list includes some interesting names, including Colonel Elishav Bahrav, who came under fire recently when a reservists\u2019 protest broke out in his brigade following the dismissal of a company commander who refused to wake up tired reserve soldiers for exercise. According to the association\u2019s documents, Bahrav donated NIS 74,000 to the yeshiva in recent years. Colonel (res.) Geva Rap, who has been involved in education and Jewish identity in the past few years, and former Knesset Member Zvulun Kalfa of the Bayit Yehudi party, donated to the yeshiva tens of thousands of shekels.<\/p>\n

The organization is generously budgeted by the state as well. According to its financial reports, in 2014 it received some NIS 4.7 million from the Education Ministry, which gave it about NIS 7 million in 2015. Rabbi Tau is listed in the documents as a hired worker. In 2014, for example, he received some NIS 207,000, and about NIS 212,000 the following year.<\/p>\n

In a bid to extract information on the campaign\u2019s leaders, an appeal was made to the Har Hamor Yeshiva from a fictitious donor \u201cinterested\u201d in infusing money for the battle against joint service.<\/p>\n

Shortly afterwards, the phone rang. \u201cI understand you heard about our activity and you\u2019re interested in making a donation,\u201d said a man with a young, pleasant voice. He introduced himself as Yehonatan Gogek, \u201cthe Liba organization\u2019s fund raiser.\u201d Gogek explained that \u201cthe Har Hamor manager, (Meir) Elisar, is a friend of mine\u2026 He\u2019s the one who gave me the number. He\u2019s a member of Liba as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll soon come back to the interesting details provided by Gogek in the conversation, but first let\u2019s talk about the Liba Center. According to the association\u2019s documents, Liba was founded in 2015. It was initially registered in the settlement of Eli. It\u2019s a religious Zionist PR organization, which aims to strengthen the State of Israel\u2019s Jewish character. \u201cWe are certain that the sanctity in the state can and should be intensified, so that the Torah and mitzvot will be its guiding principles,\u201d the center\u2019s website states.<\/p>\n

A conference led by the organization made headlines about a year ago following comments made by one of its speakers, Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, the head of the pre-army academy in Eli, who\u00a0referred to members of the LGBT community as \u201cperverts,\u201d\u00a0sparking a row. Levinstein, who is considered a student of Rabbi Tau, is also opposed to women\u2019s service in combat units.<\/p>\n

In our conversation with Gogek, he described how a day earlier, Rabbi Tau himself gave the activists a motivation talk. \u201cYesterday, at the Har Hamor Yeshiva, we asked him to give an encouragement talk to those teens standing at the junctions, and the rabbi came. He is very old\u2026 He lives on the other side of Jerusalem, and he came like a young man. He sat with the youth and answered the questions they hear at the junctions. The veteran activists go into houses and sit nicely, handing material. We have a tight connection with him on a daily basis,\u201d Gogek explained.<\/p>\n

Asked if a donation to the campaign was actually a donation to Rabbi Tau and his yeshiva, Gogek replied: \u201cRabbi Tau is the president of Har Hamor and we accept his doctrine and his guidance. Beyond that, in terms of bureaucratic management of funds, these are two separate associations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The connection between the Har Hamor Yeshiva and Liba doesn\u2019t end with Rabbi Tau and Elisar, by the way. According to the association\u2019s documents, a member of the yeshiva committee, Ariel Popovich, serves in a number of roles at the Liba Center as well. Both bodies have the same accountant.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s another interesting piece of information: In the brochure signed by the Liba Center, titled \u201cProcesses taking place in the IDF and our approach towards them,\u201d we found a sort of action plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe feeling is that the army\u2019s leaders are running amok to impose liberal values and advance the \u2018joint service\u2019 perception at all costs,\u201d the booklet states, clarifying that the effective way for change is by \u201ccreating considerable and broad public pressure on the decision makers to intervene in processes in the IDF.\u201d<\/p>\n

Practical ways of action are then mentioned, including signing a petition to the defense minister, advertising on billboards, distributing information, etc. Another, quite surprising, move is encouraging soldiers to turn to the military ombudsman on difficulties related to joint service. \u201cThrough the complaints, the problems will begin to rise to the surface, which might make it impossible to ignore them and require a fundamental change in the situation,\u201d the pamphlet explains.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s for the women\u2019s sake\u2019
\nTo study things thoroughly, we set a meeting with Gogek at an Airport City caf\u00e9, disguised as potential donors. The meeting would offer a further peek into the secrets of the campaign.<\/p>\n

Gogek, 25, has a short and pointed beard and a regular smile on his face. He says he served in the Nahal Brigade and is now a reservist. \u201cLiba was created by graduates of high yeshivot, and we have a research department there which collected information and analyzed the consequences of the joint service order,\u201d he explains at the beginning of the meeting.\u00a0He says the collected information turned into a rebellious campaign after some of his friends in Liba decided they had to do something. \u201cIt\u2019s something internal that started bothering them. They contribute a lot to the IDF as reserve officers, and something started bubbling inside them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He later reveals the names of reserve officers Oren Henig and Shlomi Cohen. \u201cThese guys are part of the system, its own flesh and blood with a lot of extras. They serve in combat units, one in the Armored Corps and the other in the Infantry Corps, and they were called up in the recent operations too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together with Henig and Cohen, he says, a group of 15 reserve officers got together to \u201cconvey a general message that an entire state is suffering here because the organization responsible for its security is exposed to something very problematic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, we find out that Zvika Harel, a reserve combat soldier, and Shlomo Kostiner, former chairman of the Gush Katif and Northern Samaria Heritage Center, are also active in Brothers in Arms. Several minutes into the meeting, we are joined by Elkana Babed, who introduces himself as the Liba CEO. In the past, we learn, Babed received NIS 10,000 in aid from the Honenu organization, which helps citizens and members of the security forces who are involved in legal proceedings on a national background.In a \u2018fundraising\u2019 meeting for Brothers in Arms. Elkana Babed (R) and Yehonatan Gogek<\/p>\n

As soon as he sits down, Babed reveals why the reserve officers behind the activity against joint service would rather remain anonymous. \u201cThey don\u2019t want to lose their positions in reserve service. The military is trying to portray this organization as being against the army,\u201d he clarifies<\/p>\n

He then adds that the activists include \u201ctwo company commanders and two regiment commanders. We meet with senior officials. They agree with it completely, but they\u2019re afraid. Look what happened to Ron-Tal and Kahalani when they stood up and spoke. The next morning, they said Kahalani had said that girls should not be fighters\u2026 They hit him hard.\u201d\u00a0That\u2019s the reason, Babed says, there\u2019s need for a lot of money for a significant campaign, which would divert the public opinion. \u201cIt isn\u2019t easy to talk about it out loud and to hold this opinion, which is why the high-ranking officers are not there yet, and so a campaign can help because it conveys the messages in a respectable manner.\u201cThere are organized plans. It\u2019s confidential,\u201d he goes on. \u201cLet\u2019s be honest. When you come to a top-rated strategist, you need a budget for an idea and for its execution, and none of this ends in less than 300,000 shekels. It\u2019s a national goal, to cancel the order.\u201d\u00a0Babed offers his own opinion on the issue: \u201cThree days inside a tank with a girl? That\u2019s impossible. Either she loses her femininity or they lose their manhood. And it harms both the human aspect and the operational aspect.\u201d\u00a0He later adds that \u201cit\u2019s a struggle which is not for the sake of religious people, but for the sake of the state.\u201d \u201cFor the sake of women,\u201d Gogek interrupts him.\u00a0Christians? No, thanks
\nTo make things a bit more complicated, here\u2019s another detail: Although we were sitting in front of the heads of the Liba Center, they informed us that the campaign funds are actually collected by Dror National Tasks.The association, which was founded in 2012, shares some of Liba\u2019s goals. According to its documents, it was established to \u201cadvance Zionist awareness among the broad public, advance Torah studies and encourage the settlement.\u201d\u00a0Some of the leading figures in Har Hamor Yeshiva and the Liba Center are involved in Dror National Tasks as well. Har Hamor manager Meir Elisar, for example, is mentioned as a committee member and one of the founders of Dror National Tasks. Liba CEO Elkana Babed is among the association\u2019s members, and in 2015 he even earned some NIS 51,000 as an activity coordinator.\u00a0Dror National Tasks apparently receives public funds as well. The Agriculture Ministry, led by Uri Ariel of the Bayit Yehudi party, allotted the organization in 2016 nearly NIS 60,000 for the activity of a mission group in the community of Ma\u2019ale Efrayim.The association received a larger sum, of NIS 174,000, as a donation from the pro-settlement One Israel Fund organization, whose founding chairman is Dr. Yechiel Leiter, an Eli resident who served in the past as Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s chief of staff at the Finance Ministry.\u00a0A moment before our meeting ends, Babed clarifies that not every donor is welcome. \u201cWe don\u2019t take donations that come from Christians for ideological purposes. Dror receives funds from Jews or from gentiles, but there is a problem to receive money from Christians who have religious motives. In the past, there was an unpleasant incident with an American Jew who wanted to help and brought a donation from evangelical Christians,\u201d he says, adding that there is a plan to register Brothers in Arms as an association. \u201cI believe they won\u2019t be so pedantic about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Control centers
\nHow popular are the messages conveyed by Brothers in Arms and similar organizations among the broad public? \u201cIn numbers, the people who identify with this campaign make up less than 15 percent of Religious Zionism,\u201d says Dr. Hanan Mandel, chairman of the national-Zionist Ne\u2019emanei Torah Va\u2019Avodah movement. \u201cIt\u2019s not much, but they have a great amount of influence on the discourse. They flood synagogues with information, for example. Furthermore, Rabbi Tau\u2019s doctrine is very influential in the yeshivot.\u201dProf. Asher Cohen of the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University is very familiar with the campaign. He says its leaders are \u201cpeople who believe in the sanctity of statehood. These are people who give the state a meaning of religious sacredness. And if the state is scared, there\u2019s a limit to your criticism against it and against its symbols. They will never tear the rope. The national Haredim, who include Rabbi Tau, are a minority within the Religious Zionism movement, but it\u2019s a minority with a few important control centers. For example, they have a significant amount of influence in the field of religious education. Their ability to recruit field activists is very high too.\u00a0\u201cStill, it\u2019s important to look at the silent majority, at the mainstream. For example, if we are talking about mixed regiments of male and female fighters, the mainstream likely won\u2019t be pleased. Even I, as a former officer in the Armored Corps, think that women\u2019s service in a tank is nonsense. It sounds completely surreal that there would be mixed teams. It\u2019s as if people don\u2019t know what a tank is. On the other hand, I think that I and the mainstream in this public do approve of the joint service order. It\u2019s a fact that there is a rise in the number of religious female recruits.\u201d\u00a0From a Brothers in Arms video. An \u2018imaginary\u2019 kingdom\u2019s army is weakened because of the \u2018advisor on equality affairs\u2019Dr. Assaf Sharon, co-chair of the Molad research institute, which has been investigating the campaign and its funding sources, says that \u201cthe people behind the campaign against the IDF are going to a lot of trouble to disguise their identity. It\u2019s a small group with radical views, which has been making a huge effort in recent years to change the nature of the public systems in the State of Israel and now in the army as well. They know that the majority of the public rejects their world view, which is why they are trying to disguise themselves and using manipulation and aggression. The Israeli public deserves to know who they are and what is their goal and who are their political patrons.\u201d\u00a0Yesha Council CEO Shilo Adler, an Eli resident who serves as a reserve regiment commander in the Infantry Brigade, clarifies he has no idea who is behind the campaign. \u201cThe army is a microcosm of the Israeli society and we must maintain the balance inside it. Otherwise, there are populations which will be excluded or hurt,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m against anonymous campaigns which no one takes responsibility for. If there are issues that should be handled, the people interested in dealing with them should work vis-\u00e0-vis the authorized elements.\u00a0\u201cAs for the issue of women\u2019s service, I am strongly against joint service in the same tank. As someone who is familiar with the mixed brigades from my reserve service, I see no great value in them either. I believe they cause more damage than good. I would rather see a regiment of combat women than a mixed regiment.\u00a0\u201cAs for combat service, I am in favor of women working to fulfill themselves and their career. I believe the physical service and the demands either harm the women or the operationality of the unit. From my poor experience of 20 years in the defense establishment, I don\u2019t see much value in it.\u201d\u00a0Rabbi Haim Baruch, a retired regiment commander, is the head of the Otzem pre-military academy. \u201cI regret the general spirit of the campaign and the harsh criticism directed at the IDF,\u201d he says, making it clear that he has nothing to do with the media campaign. Nevertheless, he is critical of the joint service order: \u201cIf the goal is equality, we are making progress in that direction. But if the goal is to win, we are in a different situation. Equality comes at the expense of victory.\u201dRabbi Baruch says he was present at the chief of staff\u2019s meeting with several other rabbis to discuss the issue. \u201cThe chief of staff promised to look into the order, but we haven\u2019t heard a thing since then,\u201d he concludes. \u201cWe are facing new tensions.\u201dBrothers in Arms\u2019 response
\nThe organization offered the following response: \u201cBrothers in Arms is an independent organization of secular and religious reserve officers, who are working to strengthened the IDF. As part of the founding process, we received help from other organizations in collecting information and establishing different personal contacts.\u201cThe organization has nothing to do with any yeshiva or rabbinical authority. The criticism voiced against the army\u2019s leaders is to the point and stems from our great concern over the problematic processes they are advancing in the army.\u00a0\u201cWe invite the newspaper to address the claims we are raising in a professional manner. In addition, we recommend that the IDF spokesperson conduct a thorough examination of the connection between the people encouraging combat service for women and refusal to serve in the IDF.\u00a0\u201cDespite repeated attempts by people in the army and in the media to tarnish our image and divert the discussion, we will keep working to stop the trend of integrating women into combat units, for the sake of women and for the strength of the IDF.\u201d\u00a0PR material handed out by the Brothers in Arms organization. \u2018Saving the IDF\u2019
\nBrothers in Arms\u2019 response was received through the Lerner.Com media consulting firm, which is owned by Avi Lerner, the husband of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s former advisor, Perach Lerner. In recent years, the firm has been offering its services to government and public figures. \u201cOur firm provides strategic and media counselling to a variety of clients according to the rules of ethics and the law,\u201d said a Lerner.Com representative.\u00a0 Rabbi Yehuda Wald said on behalf of the Liba Center: \u201cThe campaign was launched by the Brothers in Arms organization, not by the Liba Center. We try to help anyone who promotes objectives that are similar to ours in bolstering the State of Israel and the IDF\u2019s strength, like Brothers in Arms. We are in regular contact with high-ranking officers, politicians and rabbis and organize different PR conversations which encourage the activists on all the issues the Liba Center deals with.\u00a0\u201cCohen and Henig do not operate Brothers in Arms. Senior officers do support the battle against female fighters\u2019 service in mixed regiments and against weakening the army. Unfortunately, due to the hysterical and irrelevant response of certain sources in the IDF, they are afraid to be exposed so as not to lose their positions in the army.\u201d Meir Elisar said on behalf of the Har Hamor Yeshiva, \u201cThe yeshiva is not interested in commenting.\u201d We got a similar response from a representative of Dror National Tasks. Elkana Babed offered the following response: \u201cLiba is an independent organization with a management, and the active members of Brothers in Arms are officers. I\u2019m not an officer. Although I believe they\u2019re doing good things, I am critical towards them. As for the meeting, they asked me to join. I tried to help raise a donation for a neighboring organization. \u201cAs for Dror National Tasks, should an association which once received a little money from the state, and is operating in democratic ways to indirectly help people who are democratically trying to change a decision which we find problematic, be harmed?\u201d As for the funds he received from Honenu, Babed said: \u201cIt was around the evacuation from Migron and damages sustained by our property, which the state refused to take responsibility for.\u201d\u00a0Oren Henig confirmed that he was a member of Liba, but added: \u201cI signed a letter they wrote as an officer, but I\u2019m not part of Brothers in Arms.\u201d Shlomi Cohen referred us to Brothers in Arms\u2019 spokesperson.\u00a0Yehonatan Gogek referred us to the Liba Center.\u00a0 The army offered the following response: \u201cThe IDF is a national people\u2019s army, and in this capacity, it will continue to integrate male and female soldiers from all layers of the population. We regret the attempts made by an organization called Brothers in Arms to present a false and distorted picture of the situation in the IDF. As there is no connection between the things presented by the organization and the existing reality in the IDF, their activity can only be seen as seeking to harm the IDF, the people serving in it and its values.\u201cColonel Elishav Bahrav is a combat officer with many privileges, who has filled a large variety of significant roles over the years. Any attempt to link the officer to the Brothers in Arms organization, which he is unfamiliar with, is inappropriate and wrong. The officer donates one-tenth of his income every month to different associations, including charity and educational organizations inside and outside his community. One of the associations the brigade commander donated to for several years was the Har Hamor educational institutions, where his teachers teach and where his family members were educated.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the IDF ombudsman, since September 2016 there has actually been a drop in the number of complaints addressing the joint service issue.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An aggressive campaign against joint service of men and women in combat units has been taking place in the past year on Israel streets and on social media under the slogans \u2018Saving the IDF\u2019 and \u2018Stop the Madness.\u2019 Yedioth Ahronoth uncovers people and organizations behind campaign, which was launched by anonymous group called Brothers in Arms, as well as the generous public funds received by some of these organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2659,2663],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-we-in-the-media","category-religion-and-state"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGender separation front targets IDF - \u05ea\u05d5\u05e8\u05d4 \u05d5\u05e2\u05d1\u05d5\u05d3\u05d4<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/toravoda.org.il\/en\/68-israelis-support-civil-marriage-poll-finds-2-2-2-2-3-2-3-3-2-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gender separation front targets IDF - 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