Major-General Orna Barbivai, head of the IDF Personnel Directorate, said on Tuesday that "women should sing on any stage and in any every ceremony." Speaking at a subcommittee of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Barbivai explained that her stance stemmed "from a respectable and equal perception". The first woman to be made a major-general, the Israeli army's second-highest rank, has been appointed to head a committee tasked with examining all aspects of joint service. Earlier this week, IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz expressed his discontent over comments made by Samaria Chief Rabbi Elyakim Levanon against forcing religious soldiers to attend official ceremonies which include the performance of women. Levanon, head of the Elon Moreh hesder yeshiva, had slammed the expected recommendation of a committee appointed by Gantz, and said rabbis would instruct their students not to enlist into the military service. The women's singing row began several months ago, when religious cadets were dismissed from an officers' course after walking out from a ceremony as female soldiers began singing.