IDF to Increase Women in Combat Roles

[Jeff White]

Jerusalem Post
October 20, 2003

IDF To Increase Women In Combat Roles

By Margot Dudkevitch

Plans are under way to increase the number of female soldiers who serve in combat infantry units despite a recent report compiled by the IDF Medical Corps that proves that women, due to their limited physical strength as well as their size, are not suited to every position.

While female conscripts are unable to serve in combat positions in some of the infantry units such as the Golani, Paratroopers, or Armored corps, many are currently serving in the mixed Nahal Wildcat companies who are responsible for the border with Jordan.

Some serve in units related to biological, chemical and nuclear warfare and others serve in the Artillery Corps.

In the coming months OC Ground Forces Maj.-Gen. Yiftah Ron-Tal will appoint the first female IDF company commander. There are currently two candidates for the job.

Meanwhile, a fourth Wildcat company is due to be established in the coming months with new conscripts beginning their basic training in November.

Sgt. K., 20, who is due to finish her army stint in the coming months, serves in a Wildcat company and believes that women wishing to serve in combat positions should be given equal opportunities despite the obvious physical differences.

"Females should be allowed to try out for combat service, but there should be some process in which they are tested before being assigned to such units. If they are found to be compatible then they should be allowed to serve alongside the boys," she told The Jerusalem Post.

K. said the males and females serving in her company sweated alongside each other throughout basic training, and all the drills that came after it, including the long treks and daily workouts.

"While girls have physical limitations there are also boys who are unable to keep up with the pace or meet the requirements," she said. At first her family was concerned but are now proud of the job she is doing, she said.

"Our company has successfully prevented infiltrations, we have conducted ambushes and are responsible for and patrol the entire border with Jordan," she said. "From the outset, the girls assigned to the company knew they would be serving together with males. We have all accomplished a lot together."

As for plans to appoint the first female company commander, K. said "why not? There is no reason why a female shouldn't be appointed to such a position."

 

[Jeff White]

Of course the Washington Times has a different perspective...

Washington Times
October 20, 2003
Pg. 1

Israeli Women Won't See Combat

By Abraham Rabinovich, The Washington Times

JERUSALEM — Young women who are drafted into the Israeli military will be barred from most combat duties because of a medical study that has determined they are, after all, the weaker sex.

The finding comes at a time when the army already is stretched thin. Several hundred reserve soldiers were called up yesterday to serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip because of rising violence and fears of a new wave of Palestinian suicide bombings.

The medical study, carried out by the army medical corps, found that women safely can carry 40 percent of their body weight compared with 55 percent for men.

The fact that military-age women weigh 33 pounds less than men on average makes the average disparity in what they can lift more than 44 pounds.

The study also determined that men could be trained on marches of up to 55 miles, but that marches of more than 32 miles were too arduous for women.

The study, carried out at the request of the General Staff, found that the amount of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin in women's blood was more than 10 percent lower than in men's blood, limiting their ability to undertake extended physical efforts.

Given these limitations, the army doctors recommended that the army bar women from service in front-line infantry units.

They also are to be barred from tank crews, where each member must be capable of carrying out the loader's duties if needed. That task could require lifting dozens of shells and inserting them into the gun breech during battle.

Artillery units, as well as tasks with combat engineers dealing with heavy equipment, would be closed to women for similar reasons.

The findings will complicate the job of military planners, who are faced with growing concern about political violence in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Yesterday, three Israeli soldiers were killed and a fourth was wounded when Palestinian gunmen attacked a foot patrol near the West Bank village of Ein Yabrud, east of Ramallah.

A government official said yesterday that 10 battalions of reserve soldiers would be called up to fill gaps resulting from cuts in defense spending. A military source had told Reuters news agency that only five battalions would be needed.

Asked about the call-up, Israeli army spokeswoman Ruth Yaron told Israeli radio: "We are facing another wave of terror.

"Unfortunately, due to budget cuts ... when we currently face a wave of alerts and attacks, we are forced to recruit reserve troops on too-short notice," she said.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat criticized the decision.

"These actions are consistent with the daily escalation by the Israeli army," he told Reuters. "It's an indication that the Israeli government will continue their aggression, incursions and curfews, and this won't lead us anywhere."

The doctors and physiologists who conducted the medical study said there were no objections to women serving in light infantry units along peacetime borders, in antiaircraft missile units or as radar operators in intelligence units, where they have proved themselves on numerous occasions.

Nor did the medical team recommend barring women from serving as air force pilots or navigators, as a few are doing, or as naval officers.

Women serve extensively as instructors in training camps, but they are not assigned to combat units unless they volunteer for them and qualify. Women are drafted at age 18 for two years and men for three.