IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Thursday that the military needs “every male and female combat soldier and every male and female commander,” following threats by rabbis to stop sending their students to serve in tank units because of a pilot program integrating women into the Armored Corps.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew jeers from some in the crowd at the IDF cadets graduation ceremony, as he pushed back against critics of his wartime leadership.
Speaking Thursday, Zamir said that “the challenge facing the IDF is to find a balance between accommodating diverse populations and preserving a shared and unified framework that enables it to carry out its missions effectively.”
He added: “We will strengthen cohesion through what unites rather than what divides us. This too is part of the IDF’s ability to achieve victory.”
Zamir met Tuesday with senior religious Zionist rabbis following a letter from many of them threatening to stop sending their students to serve in tank units due to a pilot program integrating women into the Armored Corps. Their concern is that the students, who observe religious strictures around modesty, would serve too closely with female recruits. The IDF chief has repeatedly pledged that men and women will not serve together inside the same tanks.
The IDF is also facing a manpower shortage amid the ongoing dispute over Haredi service in the military due to the blanket exemption from long given to yeshiva students, something which has became a major political flashpoint in recent months.
In his own speech at the ceremony on Tuesday, Netanyahu hailed Israel’s military achievements in its wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, drawing mixed reactions from the crowd.
In a 20-minute speech, Netanyahu reiterated his determination to maintain Israel’s military presence in southern Lebanon and prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, amid concerns in Jerusalem about US-Iran talks harming Israeli interests on both fronts.
About five minutes into his remarks, one member of the audience shouted in Hebrew, “Go home!” prompting scattered applause, before another attendee yelled “Go Bibi!” seconds later, using Netanyahu’s nickname, and drawing louder cheers in support of the premier, who largely ignored both incidents.
“We dominate southern Lebanon… and we will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary,” Netanyahu said. “We are not going to withdraw from it… The defense minister and I have given the IDF clear instructions: You have complete freedom of action to thwart any threat to our soldiers or to the residents of the north.”
A US State Department official claimed earlier today that Israel has withdrawn from some of the southern Lebanese territory it took hold of in its war with Hezbollah, following the latest round of Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington aimed at halting fighting, and as Tehran continues to insist Lebanon be included in its ceasefire with the US. Israeli and Lebanese officials quickly denied the American claim.
“With an agreement or without an agreement, as long as I am prime minister of Israel, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu added.
Pushing back against critics of his wartime leadership, Netanyahu argued that Israel had fundamentally transformed the strategic landscape of the Middle East, saying that “only the blind would say there have been no achievements,” listing military gains against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Iranian regime.
After the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre that led to Israel’s wars on all three of those fronts, Netanyahu said, “those who pursued us are now being pursued.”
“Are there still things to do regarding Iran? Yes,” he said, adding: “There [also] is still more to do against Hamas, against Hezbollah, and against the threat of [Hezbollah] drones.”
Speaking at the same ceremony Thursday evening, Defense Minister Israel Katz again said Israeli forces will remain inside security zones in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip, “without any time limit.”
This is “to protect our residents and communities against jihadist elements,” he added.
“We will not compromise on Israel’s supreme security interest: protecting our soldiers and safeguarding our citizens, and we will not withdraw from the security zones,” Katz said at the officers’ school in southern Israel, known as Bahad 1.
He also warned Tehran that if “Iran attacks Israel because of our actions in Lebanon, or for any other reason, we will strike it with full force.”
Source:
www.timesofisrael.com
