Combat & Women

August 1, 2007 - 4:00 PM by Stephanie

When Israel declared independence back in 1948, a war with the neighbors broke out immediately after. Surprise surprise.

At the time, however, human resources were limited and the pioneers forming the country’s backbone were striving for male-female egalitarianism. So women fought on the front lines.

Some were captured by enemy fighters and held as prisoners of war & when reports began filtering back about cruelty inflicted upon them, a decision – No Combat for Women – was taken. The inherent risks were deemed too cruel and unfair.

Seven years ago Israel’s army re-opened the gates for women to serve in various combat roles. But according to Hebrew daily Yediot, today’s women aren’t all that interested.

Data from the Human Resources Directorate…show that in the current draft, the girls prefer to avoid combat service: only 2% of all the girl recruits chose combat service. The few who do combat service are slotted mainly in the Caracal battalion that guards the Israel-Jordan border and the Israel- Egypt border, in the anti-aircraft array, in the Artillery Corps and the Border Police.

“Every young woman does her own calculations. While she does three years of combat service, her girlfriends do less than two years in the Kirya (an office type setting…slf), go home every day and are not called to reserve duty,” said a senior officer in the Human Resources Directorate. Ground Army sources say that the number of girls doing combat service could be increased by reducing service to two years. Such a step, they say, would spur many girls to go to combat units—particularly those who don’t fear the difficulties but are deterred by the long time. Ways should also be found to make reserve duty easier for them, they said.

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