Rabbi Levinstein slams IDF over religious soldiers dispute

Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, head of the Bnei David pre-military academy in Eli, is warning that the IDF has effectively decided to eliminate the role of its chief rabbi, amid a mounting dispute over religious soldiers' rights. The controversy follows the detention of 16 soldiers from the Givati Brigade's Rotem Battalion who refused an operational mission in Gaza after learning a female paramedic would ride with them in a Namer armored vehicle. Levinstein accused military leadership of using "operational necessity" as cover to force religious troops into violating halachic law. The episode has reignited tensions between the IDF and religious-Zionist communities over accommodations for observant soldiers serving in combat units.