Female officers warn of mass haredi draft
Some 20 high ranking reservists urge PM, Plesner Committee to ensure ultra-Orthodox men's draft would not infringe on female soldiers' rights
Some 20 female officers, including high ranking reservists, sent a letter to the Plesner Committee, tasked with finding alternatives to Tal Law and regulating haredim's military service, warning that the mass recruitment of ultra-Orthodox soldiers will have an adverse effect on women serving in Israel's armed forces.
The letter, sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Deputy PM Shaul Mofaz, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Committee Chairman MK Yohanan Plesner (Kadima), said that such a move would eventually increase the exclusion of women in the military and infringe on their rights.
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"We demand that this move will not be conducted in a way oblivious to the rights of women, who loyally serve their country," the letter said. "The committee cannot promote the equal distribution of burden at the expense of female soldiers' rights.
"We are witnessing, with great concern, the religious radicalization that has become evident within the IDF. We fear that it may grow worse if the ramifications this plan will have on the conditions of female soldiers' service are not duly addressed," the letter said.
Among those who signed the letter are former IPS Commissioner Brig.-Gen (Res.) Orit Adatto; Brig.-Gen (Res.) Israela Oron, former National Security Council deputy chief; Colonel (Res.) Miri Isen, who served as the PM's foreign press liaison during the Second Lebanon War, former Military Censor and Chief JAG Defense Attorney Colonel (Res.) Rachel Dolev; as well as several top police officers and a former high-ranking Mossad officer.
Yoav Zitun contributed to this report
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