Eighty chareidi men joined the ranks of IDF intelligence this week, becoming the largest group to do so in the history of the “Bina B’Yarok” (Intelligence in Green) program to bring chareidim into the corps. The new inductees represent a 25% increase in chareidi-religious presence in the Intelligence Corp.
They will begin work in a variety of positions, working with communications, computers, GIS systems, and in research. Most will work with computers or in communications.
Young men from a variety of streams within the chareidi-religious community enlisted with Bina B’Yarok. Some are from the chassidic Gur and Sanz groups, others are Sephardi, and still others are Litvaks.
The recruits came from cities across the country, including chareidi-religious strongholds like Beitar Illit and Modiin Illit (Kiryat Sefer).
Commanding officer Major Yoram Dan explained that the Bina B’Yarok program is designed with the haredi soldiers’ unique needs in mind. The soldiers serve exclusively with men, are provided with food that meets demanding kosher specifications, and are given time to daven each afternoon, he said.
“Our goal is to make more options available for hareidi recruits,” he added.
Chareidi soldiers still face challenges, Dan admitted. The main challenge is simply joining the program, a “socio-psychological” challenge for many, he said. Some of the soldiers are from communities where full-time Torah learning is strongly preferred over IDF service, he said, adding, “We have soldiers who need to change out of uniform on the train [home].”
Read more at Arutz Shevah.
{Arutz Shevah/Matzav.com}
