Shabbos Violations and Improper Training Alleged Inside New “Adi” Chareidi IDF Company

Serious claims are emerging from soldiers serving in the IDF’s newly formed “Adi” company in Tzeilim, raising doubts about whether the unit is truly functioning as a chareidi framework as originally presented.

The situation came to light Monday night on the main broadcast of Kol Barama Radio, where reporter Mendy Rizel shared testimony from soldiers inside the unit. The company, created less than a year ago to provide security for the Tzeilim base, is officially designated for chareidi recruits, but the soldiers describe something very different.

Several servicemen say that most of the current members of the unit are no longer religious. They describe an environment that looks nothing like the halachically sensitive structure that the IDF had pledged to maintain for chareidi soldiers.

One soldier explained: “Most of the soldiers are formerly chareidi and are not religious at all today. The result: public Shabbos desecration, fitness training with a female instructor, and a Torah class once a month instead of every day, as the regulations require.”

Another soldier shared his pain openly: “For the first time, I started violating Shabbos during my service, because of the environment.”

A different soldier said that when he entered the program and stated that he was not religious, he was simply told, “You’ll strengthen yourself.”

According to IDF regulations, a chareidi-designated company is supposed to maintain a strict religious setting, including daily Torah learning, a fully halachically appropriate environment, and zero compromise on religious standards. The accounts coming out of the unit indicate major departures from that commitment.

In response to the reports, the IDF Spokesperson addressed the issue involving a female fitness instructor: “The incident will be investigated by the relevant command authorities and handled accordingly. In the case in question, the fitness instructor opened the gym for the soldiers but did not run the training. The IDF places great importance on maintaining suitable service conditions for chareidi soldiers and works to preserve them through inspections and ongoing command dialogue.”

The IDF further stated: “Chareidi soldiers in chareidi tracks undergo a screening and affiliation interview with the relevant authorities. The soldiers in the Adi company serve in a designated framework for soldiers from the chareidi sector with all the necessary conditions to maintain their way of life, including set times for prayers, Torah classes, and conversations with rabbanim.”

{Matzav.com}