The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sees International Day for Women as a day to mark its efforts in the integration of women in the IDF. Throughout its 61 years, the IDF has benefited from wide participation of women in both times of peace and war, thus accumulating rich and unique experience in women integration. Israel, which has recruited women since its establishment in 1948, is the only country world wide that recruits women by law to compulsory service.
Even prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, the rate of women who took part in combat organizations stood at 20%. For example, in the Palmach (the military arm of the Hagana, the precursor of the IDF) women served as commanders, sappers, drivers etc. However, in spite of their compulsory service, women were initially limited to a narrow range of support and administration positions, and were not allowed to serve in combat positions and in war zones.
In a landmark decision on November 8, 1995 the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Alice Miller, a 23 year-old officer serving as an aeronautical engineer, could take qualification tests and join the air force flight-training course, opening the door for Israeli women to become pilots. The court case, and the broader effort by women's rights groups to allow women in combat positions in ground units as well as in the air force, forced the military to confront the question of women's roles in the IDF. Eventually, in the year 2000, the Military Service Law was amended, stating that "The right of women to serve in any role in the IDF is equal to the right of men."
The changing role of women in the Israeli military seems to influence attitudes towards women in Israeli society at large. Senior army officers often proceed to positions of influence in politics and business after they leave the service. A good example is Brigadier-General (res.) Miri Regev, former IDF Spokesperson, who was recently elected as a member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament).
There has been a clear trend of increase in the participation of women in the different military sectors. Today, women represent a third of all IDF soldiers, and can be deployed in 90 percent of all positions within the IDF. These statistics were published by the IDF Women’s Affairs Advisor, Brig. Gen. Yehudit Grissaro, on Sunday (March 8), in celebration of International Women's Day. Brig. Gen. Grissaro also announced that women represent 26 percent of all officers and 12 percent of all NCOs, and women are able to serve in 10 different combat positions.
Today women constitute 20% of career officers and 33% of compulsory service personnel, as opposed to 31% in 1995. In addition, there has been a moderate increase in the representation of women in every rank in the IDF. The percentage of women lieutenant colonels increased from 7% to 12.5%.
Women represent a significant portion of manpower in the combat units that they serve in; in the Anti-Aircraft Division and in the Artillery Corps, women represent 20 percent of soldiers, 25 percent of soldiers in Search and Rescue units, 10 percent of the Border Police, and the Caracal Battalion - a combat battalion - is made up of 70 percent female soldiers. In addition, this year marked the first year in which women are eligible to serve in the Field Intelligence Corps.
In the Caracal Battalion, men and women go through a difficult basic training period of four months, undergoing an arduous physical training regimen. During the course, which takes place at the Givati Brigade training base, the soldiers specialize in weapons such as machine guns, advanced weaponry, grenades, mortars, etc. As a part of the conditions of equality, all combat soldiers of the battalion serve for three years.
According to the IDF Women’s Affairs Advisor, today, there is no Air Force squadron in which women do not represent between one quarter and one third of the soldiers. "The participation of women in the technical field of the Air Force is very impressive, and the current situation is the result of a decade worth of effort," she explains. Brig. Gen. Grissaro also pointed out that the year 2008 was marked by an organized effort to integrate women in the technology fields, and that the same process will begin within the Ordinance Corps in 2009.
There has been a 40 percent increase in the number of female career soldiers during the last decade. Half of all officers in compulsory service are women, between 25 and 30 percent of officers with the rank of captain or major are women, and 12 percent of all lieutenant colonels in the IDF are women. In addition, seven female officers have been and will be promoted to the rank of colonel in 2009: the head of the budget department of the Administration for the Development of Weapons and the Technological Industry, the Medical Officer of the Israel Air Force, Head of the Planning Division at the Dadu Center, the Head of the Appeals Department at the Soldiers Complaints Commission, the head of the Budget Department at the office of the Financial Advisor to the Chief of the General Staff, the IDF Head Prosecutor and the head of the Cash Department in the Israel Air Force who will enter her office in the course of the year.
In 2007, the Head of Personnel Branch, Major General (res.) Eliezer Shtern, appointed a committee to define women's service in the IDF in the next decade, with the objective of increasing equal opportunities in women's service in the IDF.
In September 2008, the committee's recommendations were presented to the IDF General Staff. The Chief of Staff supported the committee's vision: "The IDF, as a leading organization in Israeli society, designates the service of men and women to a fulfilling and respectful service based upon equal opportunities in the service of IDF and the State of Israel."