Women in the Israel Defense Forces

Female Israeli infantry instructors preparing for a combat exercise, 2010
Female graduates of the Israeli Air Force flight course, 2011

Israel is one of only a few countries where military service is compulsory for all able-bodied female citizens. Under Israeli conscription laws, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) may draft recruits from three communities: the Jews, the Druze, and the Circassians. As the latter two communities are less populous, their women are not required to serve. Women from the Jewish majority are not exempted from the conscription laws, but serve for slightly shorter terms than male conscripts.[1][2][3] All women who are exempted from the conscription laws may still enlist voluntarily. Jewish women who are called up for military service may apply for an exemption on humanitarian, religious, or certain legal grounds. Those who claim such an exemption will typically be redirected to Sherut Leumi, the alternative means of national service.

According to Israeli military statistics, 535 female soldiers had been killed while serving between the years of 1962 and 2016.[4] The IDF's regulated integration of women is rooted in the days of the Yishuv, when Jewish women served in the ranks of various Zionist paramilitaries during the 1947–1949 Palestine War.[5][6] In 1999–2000, an amendment was made to the Women's Equal Rights Law of Israel by which men and women became fully equalized — although separately — in the Israeli military apparatus.[3]

Until 2001, female conscripts served in the Women's Corps, or Chayil Nashim (CHEN; Hebrew: ח״ן‎).[7] After a five-week-long period in basic training, they could serve as clerks, drivers, welfare workers, nurses, radio operators, flight controllers, ordnance personnel, and course instructors.[8] As of 2011, around 88% of all IDF roles were open to female candidates. Concurrently, women were enlisted in 69% of all military positions available to them.[9][10]

Amidst the 2014 Gaza War, the IDF stated that fewer than 4% of their female soldiers were enlisted in combat positions, such as infantry and helicopter/fighter pilots, and that they were instead concentrated in a variety of "combat-support" positions.[11]

During Hamas's October 7 surprise attack on Israel, women soldiers took a vital role in the defence operations fighting Hamas. For the first time in Israeli history, many women soldiers were abducted by Hamas to the Gaza Strip. Later, during the phase of the ground fighting in the Gaza Strip, female fighters and medical women entered the Gaza Strip as part of the operation.[12]

  1. ^ "Statistics: Women's Service in the IDF for 2010, 25 Aug 2010". Israel Defense Forces. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  2. ^ Feldinger, Lauren Gelfond (21 September 2008). "Skirting history". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Integration of women in the IDF". Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 8 March 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  4. ^ Cohen, Gili (10 May 2016). "Israeli Woman Who Broke Barriers Downed by Hezbollah Rocket as 2006 Combat Volunteer". Haaretz. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Women in the IDF". Israel Defense Forces. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  6. ^ "60 Years of Women's Service in the IDF". Israel Defense Forces. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  7. ^ CHEN: Women's Corps of the Israel Defense Forces Jewish Women's Archive
  8. ^ "Israel". Lcweb2.loc.gov. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  9. ^ "Women of the IDF". IDF Spokesperson's Unit. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  10. ^ "Statistics: Women’s Service in the IDF for 2010, 25 Aug 2010". Israel Defense Forces. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  11. ^ Gaza: It's a Man's War The Atlantic, 7 Aug 2014
  12. ^ "IDF sees surge in female conscripts seeking combat roles since start of war with Hamas".