https://www.ynet.co.il/judaism/article/B1XSZkVcw
ארגון חותם השיק קמפיין הסברה בכמה שפות, המציע
לעולות חדשות העומדות לקראת גיוס, להצהיר כי אינן יכולות לשרת מטעמי דת
ולפנות לשירות לאומי-אזרחי: "הצבא מנצל את תחושת השליחות שלהן ואת תמימותן
כדי לגייסן בניגוד לרצונן". דובר צה"ל: "יותר בנות דתיות משלבות בין אמונתן
לשירות משמעותי בצבא"
The struggle against the recruitment of women: Rabbis persuade new immigrants not to serve in the IDF
The
Chotam organization has launched an information campaign in several
languages, offering new immigrants about to enlist, declaring that they
cannot serve for religious reasons and turning to national-civilian
service: "The military exploits their sense of mission and innocence to
recruit against their will." IDF Spokesman: "More religious girls
combine their faith with meaningful service in the army"
Kobi Nachshoni Posted 14:34, 19/11/2020
The
struggle for the place of women in the army is expanding and extending
overseas: Chotam organization that opposes the recruitment of girls has
launched an information campaign that appeals to Jewish girls from
abroad seeking to come to Israel to donate to the state, and encourages
them to apply for religious exemptions and volunteer for national-civil
service only.
Chotam, headed by senior rabbis from the
Conservative wing of Religious Zionism (including Rabbi Yaakov Ariel,
Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira and Rabbi Elyakim Lebanon), has been claiming for
years that the IDF has made it difficult for observant girls to declare
their lifestyles, and is conducting forbidden investigations against
them, their credibility and bring about their recruitment.
They
now accuse the army of recently investing a lot of effort among new
immigrants and teenage girls from the Diaspora who want to volunteer in
Israel, in order to attract them to the right path for him - according
to the rabbis, "against their will." Following this, the religious
organization goes out to fight for the ... of those girls, and tries to
convince them that even within the national service there is a
possibility of a "significant contribution."
"Language and Mental Gaps"
According
to Chotam, many foreign candidates, keeping tradition, are unaware of
their rights and the "methods used by the military" to recruit them, so
the organization produced a notebook in various languages with essential
information for them and instructions on how to deal with complex
situations.
The head of public policy at Chotam, Avner Porat,
estimated that there are hundreds of candidates for service each year
from this population, which has large concentrations in the country, in
addition to those who come there especially from abroad, noting that
they suffer from triple difficulty compared to older Israelis: language
gaps, lack of order. In educational institutions - and various religious
norms.
Porat explained that in many Jewish families in the
Diaspora it is customary for girls not to necessarily adhere to the
dress codes and modesty customary among observant people in Israel, and
some even attend "public" schools that are not religious (or not Jewish
at all). For them, this does not contradict their strong religious
consciousness and their way of life on issues such as Shabbat and
kosher, but in the eyes of the military it automatically raises
suspicion that their religious statement is false.
"Because they
come with a sense of mission and contribution to the country, the
military's motivation is growing," Porat argued. "They are comfortable
for .... to operate the information systems on ... in an attempt to
persuade them to enlist and thus 'improve' for him the data on the
serving religiosity." He said, "It is no secret that the IDF has
definite goals for this and it wants to reach a significant amount."
"Invasive Investigation Mask"
The
director of the Chotam organization, Amital Barali, added: "Recruitment
authorities are taking advantage of the innocence of some of the new
immigrants and putting pressure on them to enlist and not do national
service even though it goes against their lifestyle. "These girls, who
come from religious backgrounds, are interested in making a significant
contribution to society and the state within the national service, and
they are invited to interrogation regarding religion in a stressful and
hostile atmosphere, during which they have difficult conversations and
are pressured to give up volunteering in the national service."
"We
hope that the military system will put an end to the abusive conduct of
the recruitment bureaus, who exploit the innocence of the new
immigrants, who are unfamiliar with the options before them," Barley
said. "A girl who wants to contribute her share to the state within the
framework of national service, as the law allows her, does not have to
go through a mask of invasive investigations."
The IDF spokesman
responded: "Every new immigrant who is required by law to enlist is
summoned to the recruitment bureau in order to begin the recruitment
process. If you want to declare and ask for a religious exemption, you
can do so. Over the years, more religious girls enlist in the IDF and
find a place there that allows them to combine their....
