Rabbi Shaya Boas, the Rav of the Ohel Avraham shul in  Vienna, published a sharply worded post on Wednesday on his Facebook account against the IDF, after he published a statement on Wednesday: “Yeah, right – they want to recruit Charedim. They want to destroy [לשמד] Charedim!” In the post, he described the IDF’s conduct towards his son: “My son enlisted through the IDF’s Charedi Administration. After a year of civilian training within the army, he was sent to a cyber course at the IDF School of Computer Science on behalf of the Administration – and this after he refused a prestigious course – only because they demanded that he give up his Chareidi status.” “He asked again and again and was promised: the course will be separated by gender and the food will be Badatz. He did not demand a mikveh nor Chassidish shechita. Just that they meet the minimum.” The father added: “But in practice? There was no gender separation. There was no Badatz food. The sleeping arrangements? Ten meters between the males and females. My son, who stood by his principles, is now stuck in limbo. Waiting for an undefined assignment.” “And his friends from the Charedi track? They caved in. They joined the mixed course. They’re also compromising on kashrus. And you can’t even claim that these are new departments that are ‘still learning the field.’ The Chareidi Administration and the Bina B’Yarok track have been around for more than a decade, with budgets, experience, and structure.” “If, after all this, they don’t meet their commitments, this is not a malfunction; this is policy.” “And one more thing: before marketing a new track, make sure the existing participants are satisfied. What is the point of the whole campaign to recruit Charedim if my son comes home and tells all his friends that the ‘Charedi-adapted’ tracks are a big bluff?’ “So enough with the stories about ‘sharing the burden’ and all the other nonsense. This is not about contribution. It’s about a melting pot. About erasure.” It should be noted that the above story is not an isolated one, with many Chareidi and Dati Leumi soldiers telling similar stories, especially regarding gender separation, including sleeping arrangements. The IDF is one of the only armies in the world that has a mandatory draft law for women, making gender separation extremely difficult as women serve in so many roles in the army. Earlier this week, Kol B’Ramah revealed the story of Yisrael, a Chabad Chasid from the north who has been serving in the reserves for 15 years in a Home Front Command battalion, including about 200 days in the war. According to the report, he had requested for months to be transferred to another combat battalion after his battalion became mixed, leading to situations that violated his rights as a Chareidi. Even his commander tried to address the issue but the mixed battalion refused to release him. In the meantime, he didn’t enlist for another reserve duty order and is considered AWOL. He said: “I am interested in continuing to serve and several non-mixed battalions wanted to take me, but the army won’t allow it. My commander also approached the officer who deals with gender issues, and she also refuses to allow it – and this is against […]