'The 'General Staff Order' for integrating Haredim into the IDF was finally signed after about a year of work.
Here are some notes:
• Where were they before? Why, immediately after the repeal of the 'Tal Law' and the desperate attempt to create trust with the ultra-Orthodox sector, didn't the Jewish leaders even think of the idea of writing a unique 'General Staff Order' for soldiers from the ultra-Orthodox community? Why did they break trust again and again?
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And if we only remembered now, maybe we can start the 'Tal Law' experiment again, this time with the IDF coming prepared?
• Even now, the situation is not entirely simple. For example, an IDF official admits that there is no option to allow a mikveh for soldiers of the Hasmonaean Brigade - a brigade on the track with the highest religious standards and strictness.
What does this mean for the recruitment of Chabad members, who are enlisting in high percentages in the brigade? The army's refusal to establish a mikveh on the base will make it difficult for Hasidim in general and Chabad Hasidim in particular to enlist in the brigade. Indeed, without a mikveh, it is not possible to implement the promise that they will leave the army the same way they entered, without spiritual decline.
• The orders have passed the eye of legal advice and it is still unclear what the High Court judges will say when the first petition is filed regarding women's rights and more. What did a senior IDF official say when asked whether they would expand 'Hashmonaim' to a division?
""I don't know how to sing well. If I could, I would sing 'Hello'. I mean, we're really not in that place.".
• Take just one example story. One day, ultra-Orthodox reporters were invited to tour the Hasmonaean base. I, as a female journalist, was asked to stay home. As an ultra-Orthodox, I understood and was happy about that.
But if I were a non-Haredi journalist, meaning if this happens to female journalists from the general media in the near or distant future, it's pretty clear to me that a petition by one of them or all of them together to the High Court of Justice would be answered in the affirmative. After all, there is a denial here of the fundamental right of freedom of occupation and more.
In short, a difficult and difficult path lies ahead of us.
