IDF says Gaza mission canceled after religious troops refuse to serve with female paramedic

 IDF says Gaza mission canceled after religious troops refuse to serve with female paramedic

Soldiers in the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion refused to enter an armored personnel carrier in the Gaza Strip for operational activity on Tuesday night because a female paramedic was attached to the force, the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.

As a result, the mission was canceled, according to the army.

The incident was the latest in a series of cases of male Orthodox soldiers refusing to interact with servicewomen in the army, due to the men’s religious sensibilities. The cases play into the larger debate in Israeli society over whether Haredi men must serve in the military, and how much the IDF must do to accommodate their religious observances and strictures.

The Rotem Battalion is not an ultra-Orthodox unit, and therefore the soldiers serving there, under the IDF’s protocols, may have to serve alongside women.