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No Female Singers in Israeli Army Band to Appease Rabbis

There were no women to be seen or heard at a recent military ceremony which honored hundreds of students who finished pre-army preparatory programs. The army’s military band, which has both men and women singers, was replaced with an all-male ensemble, and the only speakers to address the crowd were men. The changes were made after some of the Orthodox attendees including Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben Dahan objected because Orthodox men are not allowed to listen to female singers. In response students from a secular pre-army program called BINA signed a joint letter of protest and said that “this is not a compromise but a concession made for one side by the other.” The letter said that “values like equality, pluralism and feminism are no less important than values of religion.”