| Author | Subject: Women in the Israeli Defense Forces |
| Gal Luft | Posted At 18:52:45 03/05/2002
I've just finished reading the advanced copy of your book and loved it. It's thoughtful, interesting and methodical. Well done. I am a former IDF officer who just finished PhD studies at SAIS and would like to update you on the Israeli experience with women in the military. I believe that your impression on the IDF was based on old information and did not include the experience of the past 5-7 years in which major changes have happened. I was the first battalion commander to introduce female soldiers in combat environment. We started with two female officers and later added 12 combat soldiers who later turned into NCOs. They took part in all the combat activities of the unit including service in the West Bank and southern Lebanon. Their performance was satisfactory and depended mainly on the specific character of each of them rather then on their chromosomes. Due to the success of the experiment a growing number of female soldiers is admitted to combat units. The Israeli Airforce recently admitted women into pilot training and the first combat pilot was recently graduated. So we are moving in the right direction. I thought I'd like to know that. |
| Jose Lopez |
Re: Women in the Israeli Defense Forces (Currently 3 replies)
Posted At 00:28:07 05/19/2002 I'm part of a group of veterans & active duty personnel who want to see women in US combat units,right now they're saying women cannot handle combat bodies,the other is that GI Joe will be distracted trying to protect women buddies,what can you enlighten us on about this.Shalom |