Religious Girls to Serve in Cyber Corps
Young religious Zionist women at pre-army academies can now serve in cyber and programming positions in the C4I Corps ⦁ Chair of the Joint Council of Pre-Army Academies: “Many young women want to study Torah and serve in the IDF”
Moshe Vistuch | September 6, 2020
For the first time since pre-military academies for young religious Zionist women were established, graduates may now serve in the C4I (Teleprocessing) Corps in cyber and programming positions.
According to Defense and Society Department of the Ministry of Defense data obtained by Yisrael Hayom, this year the number of religious Zionist applicants for pre-military academies for women is higher than ever. This, despite the debate currently raging within the religious Zionist society on the issue of religious women serving in the army.
The pre-military academy track open to young religious Zionist women who want to serve in the IDF is integrated similarly to the track offered in Hesder yeshivas. The first pre-military academy for women opened in 1999, with a mere 62 young women. By 2010 the number had reached 99, while this year, 330 students have enrolled in the nine academies located throughout the country – 15% more than last year. The integrated track combines ten months of Torah studies with a full two-year service track in a range of positions. According to previous data, some 20% of graduates will stay on to become commissioned officers.
Over the years, graduates of this track enlisted primarily as teaching and command NCO’s in the IDF’s Education and Youth Corps or NCO’s in the Adjutant Corps, as well as in varied positions in the Intelligence Corps and the Air Force. Up until last year graduates did not enlist into the Ground Forces, when they were given the option of serving in observation or operations positions. This year they will also be able serve in the C4I Corps.
Groundbreaking Track
“This is a groundbreaking track, which serves as a platform to recruit and integrate religious young women into the IDF in a variety of high-quality, significant roles,” says Uri Dror, head of the Recruitment and Special and Torah Tracks Division in the Ministry of Defense’s Defense and Society Department. “I am privileged to have worked with the Academy Track since the day it was established, and I am pleased to see that the number of young women is increasing each year. I believe we will continue to enrich this track with additional roles for the recruits also in the next few years.”
One of the prominent academies is Ohr Torah Stone’s Midreshet Lindenbaum, which has 170 young women studying in its different branches this year, up from 140 last year. Rabbi Ohad Teharlev, the seminary’s director, also serves as the Chair of the Joint Council of Pre-Army Academies. He, too, is pleased with the record-breaking numbers of students this year and told Yisrael Hayom that, “the growing number of young women who choose this track is evidence that more and more young women are interested in both studying Torah and joining the army.”
