Ronski to remain chief IDF rabbi

The tenure of Israel Defense Forces Chief Rabbi Avichai Ronski will be extended by another year, it emerged yesterday, despite claims that he is radicalizing religious elements within the army.

Since taking on the post, Ronski has increased the involvement of military chaplains in combat units, which are increasingly dominated by religiously observant conscripts. During Operation Cast Lead senior commanders and left-wing politicians complained Ronski disseminated politically-tinged material to troops in the field.

Meanwhile, the IDF weekly magazine Bamahane recently reported that Colonel Yaron Boim ordered separate bathing hours for male and female soldiers at the swimming pool on an army base in the Negev. Boim sent a letter to the commander of the Personnel Directorate, Brigadier General Avi Zamir, in which he asked to set guidelines for separate bathing hours at IDF swimming pools.

"A commander cannot swim in a pool with a female subordinate in minimal apparel," the IDF rabbinate said.

The IDF publication quoted sources within an infantry unit consisting of men and women as saying the pool separation would have a negative effect on the unit's training.

Haaretz reported a few months ago that separate bathing hours had been set for female and male soldiers at the swimming pool in Bahad 1, the army's officers' training base. Despite the separation, the pool remained open to both sexes at certain hours.