Hesder soldiers' service to be extended

IDF chief of staff, chief of Personnel and head rabbi meet with hesder yeshivot board to discuss extending their soldiers' service from 16 to 24 months
Hanan Greenberg Yedioth Ahranoth Published: 09.05.07, 10:37
IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi met with the members of the hesder yeshivot board recently, in an attempt to reach an agreement extending the military service of hesder soldiers by several months.

Safra Ve'Saifa
Besides Ashkenazi, Chief of IDF Personnel, Major General Elazar Stern and Chief Military Rabbi, Brigadier eneral Avi Ronsky, also attended the meeting.

No agreement was reached, but Ashkenazi was able to address several other issues regarding hesder soldiers, such as their integration in mixed military companies (which allow women to serve alongside men) and the sore subject of dodging.

Stern, backed by Ashkenazi, decided recently not to allow the hesder soldiers who joined the service in August, into the prestigious Golani and Paratroopers brigades, in wake of their refusal to serve in mixed companies.

'The people's army'
"The IDF is the people's army and as such all Israelis, be they city or country born, religious or secular, natives or new comers, serve in it, united in the desire to accomplish our security missions," said Stern in a letter to August's recruits.

Both Ashkenazi and Stern explained to the members of the hesder yeshivot board that their soldiers are viewed in the highest regard, and that the desire to extend their service comes from the IDF's overall wish to have all its troops shoulder the burden equally.

The members of the hesder yeshivot board, however, were not impressed. "Extending the service will make our boys rethink joining the army," they told Ashkenazi.

Ashkenazi made it clear that no change will be forced on the hesder yeshivot and asked the rabbis to think things over, in hopes of reaching a mutually agreeable solution.

Rabbi Chaim Drukman, Chairman of the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva Center, told Ynet he and his peers object to the IDF's proposed plan.

Previous attempts to extend the service failed, explained Drukman, and past experience has proven that faced with the choice, hesder student always prefer to return to their studies.