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Patience to reject the integration of women in IDF units is about to end

The implementation of the recommendation to open all combat roles for women's service has been postponed for over a decade and it seems that the considerations behind the delay are unprofessional. As long as it is up to the rabbis and the examination committees, the situation will not change any time soon

• IDF
• women

Edith Shafran Gittleman

A decade and a half have passed since recommended the opening of all units of the army service of women, depending on operational considerations. Now, after a further postponement of the implementation of the resolution in practice, we'll go back and wait patiently for the convening of a committee on the issue and its conclusions - in the hope that this time they also will be performed.

On August 13, the State submitted On behalf of the IDF, its response to the petition of the fighters who demanded that all combat positions be opened to women, including in elite units, such as the General Staff and infantry patrols. In its response, the state argued that the petition should be struck down because the proceedings in the IDF have not yet been completed, and announced the establishment of a team headed by a general to examine the issue.

If the allegation of failure to complete the proceedings sounds familiar, . As will be recalled, close to the hearing in the High Court, Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi announced that he had decided to extend the pilot of the fighters in the Armored Corps, thus dismissing the petition, which was deleted under the directive to complete the proceedings against the army. As then and now, the IDF came out with the "good news."

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It must be said without reservation - the establishment of the team is an important and significant step that should not be underestimated. However, it is difficult not to regret the many years that have passed since the Segev Committee recommended sorting all the recruits, men and women alike, according to purely professional criteria. He was doing so, and not make statements like "As long as I do not serve the role of women in the Golani Brigade," as he once said former Chief Gadi Eizenkot, there was no real concern of the petitioners were settled in vain, only to hope that other women will enjoy the fruits of our war.

Beyond Time Lost And to the deep frustration, it is important to pay attention to two additional, intertwined points. The first is in the IDF Spokesman's announcement, according to which the team will examine the issue of women in other combat roles in the IDF in all its aspects, including physiological-medical, placement and planning The

fact that the IDF treats professional considerations and physiological-medical issues in a similar way, as well as "aspects concerning the joint service," raises serious concerns that the operation of the team to be established will be similar to a neutral gas passenger vehicle.

If the IDF intends to make room for considerations such as recruiting religious soldiers for patrols, then the conclusions can be written in advance. Representatives of the religious soldiers have often made it clear that if there are female soldiers in the infantry, they will not be there. It is not clear whether this position represents the soldiers themselves, but as long as the army conducts itself in front of their representatives, unfortunately - it is less relevant.

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Following the petition: A team led by a general will examine the integration of women in elite and infantry units

To the full article

The IDF should ask itself whether it is appropriate to exclude women from certain units, just because there are those who do not want them there. This, while the army invested enormous resources in drafting the Joint Service Ordinance, in order to regulate the service of religious soldiers alongside female soldiers. "The blessing of the central rabbis, who were also partners in the drafting process. It is difficult to imagine a moral and organizational justification for this.

In the meantime, the second point that deserves attention is related to the nature of examination teams and examination committees, and the degree of public trust in them. Much work is needed to internalize a reality in which the public wonders why female soldiers who complete a pilot who has been crowned a success are not embedded in the positions for which they have been trained. The emerging suspicion is that professional considerations are not behind the decisions, and that background noises affect its conclusions and functioning in the field.

It is worth giving an honest opportunity to the designated team, and hoping that he will carry out his mission with an open heart and a willing mind. At the same time, the military needs to know that public credit, and with it patience, are in danger of eroding. As long as all the positions for the service are not opened according to a professional criterion only, such petitions will continue to be submitted - and the claim of exhaustion of the proceedings will eventually be exhausted as well.

Dr. Idit Shafran Gittleman, Head of the Military-Social Relations Program at the Israel Democracy Institute