The Israel Defense Force, following in the footsteps of Hal Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees and the Pentagon’s DEI mongers, will authorize male recruits to grow beards and female soldiers to polish their nails in all the colors of the rainbow. 

In the past, an active-duty male soldier who wanted to grow a beard needed special authorization. Mostly, it would be granted to Orthodox Jews or men with specific medical conditions. Now, all males can grow facial hair, albeit with some restrictions. Women, who had been allowed only a see-through nail polish, can now wear any color on their nails as they wish. 

The new dress code, published Wednesday by the IDF’s discipline and conduct branch, is meant to allow war-time soldiers more leeway in self expression. Not everyone is happy, though.

“Discipline is the essence of the army,” a storied retired drill sergeant, Ehud Banai, told N12 television. His signature mustache — long authorized by the IDF — now gray, the veteran Mr. Banai noted that beards were frowned upon since the first Iraq war, as they made wearing face masks difficult.

At the start of this year’s baseball season, the Yankees owner similarly eased facial hair restrictions long ago imposed by his father, George Steinbrenner. The new face code is booed by pinstripe traditionalists who rue the owner’s caving to recruits who demanded to keep their beards growing. Others, though, say the time was ripe to drop an anachronistic diktat.  

Similarly, Lieutenant Colonel Yitzhak Hai says that while the new IDF orders are meant to “strengthen the uniformity of the appearance” of the soldiers, “at the same time they adapt the dress code to the spirit of the current era.” 

In recent years the U.S. military has increasingly allowed more fashion leeway for recruits. The Army and Air Force are allowing more hairstyles, optional earrings, and solid lip colors and three nail colors for female soldiers. It even allows clear nail polish for male soldiers and other gender-fluid fashion statements. 

The IDF is not as permissive. Only Israeli women recruits can now use whatever nail polish color they wish, and even they are told that all nails must be painted in the same hue. In the past they were allowed only one pair of earrings; now they can have two, including long ones. Orthodox women can wear colorful head coverings, provided that they are dark blue, white, dark or olive green, brown, black, or gray. 

Beard allowances have limits as well. It can be a full, trimmed beard, from sideburns to chin, and a moustache. Beard-fade is banned, and stubble is allowed only while growing the beard. Additional new regulations allow active duty soldiers to go on home leave in their field fatigues, whereas in the past they were only allowed to wear special uniforms.  

The IDF chief of staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, who rose to the top of the army a month ago, is well-aware of extra wartime pressures on soldiers. Some have been on active combat duty since October 2023. The army is dangerously short-handed and is eager to attract all comers, including Orthodox recruits and Tel Aviv hipsters. For now, active-duty male soldiers are still required to cut their hair short, but can the hippie look be far behind?