After the political efforts accompanied by petitions to the Israeli Supreme Court, and two separate pilot programs within the military involving female tank corp participation, Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi made a crucial announcement. Kochavi announced on Thursday that the trial period of the service of female tank fighters has successfully ended, and from now on women can be permanently assigned to the armored tank corp.
In the statement released by the Israel Defense Forces, it was noted that the decision was made at the end of a thorough and comprehensive examination procedure that lasted about two years and included a significant period of training and operational activity.
Today, the IDF officially approved women as tank fighters on Israel’s southern border!
— Friends of the IDF (@FIDF) October 27, 2022
FIDF is proud to support the new female tank fighters in their journey, as we will always be there for them and the brave soldiers of Israel 🇮🇱
📸: IDF pic.twitter.com/Tl1Fi2yIQC
The pilot for the integration of female tank fighters, in which teams of women and men served separately and not together in the same tank, began in November 2020. At the same time, the IDF was forced to deal with the Supreme Court due to petitions against the pilot. It was ultimately decided that the pilot would continue until the summer of 2022. Currently, there are four tanks on the Egyptian border with women operating them.
The IDF set five conditions for the integration of women into the tank armored corp: first, compliance with the professional criteria; second, success in operational activity over time; third, building strength and effective command; Fourth, an examination of the dropout of women from the positions to which they were recruited; And fifth, continuous motivation. Only after a deep assessment concluded that all the criteria were met, the IDF made its decision.
Part of the concerns those opposing the plan had was that often, even males with a muscular physique suffer from back and leg pains due to the heavy lifting needed to operate a tank. Some were even concerned about the impact military service within a tank would have on the female reproductive system.
For the first time in Israel's history, 15 female tank fighters will be deployed to the border with Egypt. It is the next step in the IDF's program to see if women can serve in the Armored corps pic.twitter.com/Okj1u65XQL
— Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) July 11, 2021
The IDF statement explained that the program was successful on all different ends. With the success of the pilot, the IDF will begin recruiting women to serve their required military duty in tanks. At this stage, the female-operated tanks will patrol the Egyptian border which is a hotbed for rogue Islamist groups like ISIS as well as drug and people smugglers.
Today, after months of hard work, four female soldiers became the IDF’s first female tank commanders. Congratulations!
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 28, 2018
Read all about them here: https://t.co/FvBnVV1xDF pic.twitter.com/SjX19ol0ze
Kochavi added that "we are successfully concluding a professional and in-depth process, as part of the concept that the IDF is opening up more and more combat roles for women. I trust the female tank fighters to carry out the border defense mission, professionally and with great success, and to be a significant part of the IDF's operational effort."
