Israel military: A record year for women in combat units

Israel’s army inducted the highest number of women into combat positions in history this year, as reported by i24NEWS.

This past year saw 3,300 women enlisted into combat roles, compared to 2,900 last year and 2,600 in 2019.

In the past six years, there has been a 250 percent rise of women in combat units, The Times of Israel (ToI) reported.

This comes after the Israeli military spent years opening new roles to women.

The units with the highest rates of female fighters are the Lions of the Jordan Valley Battalion, Border Police, Home Front Command, Combat Intelligence Collection Corps, and Artillery. 

Israel’s army considers this a positive development, according to i24NEWS, and intends to create new high school tech programs to induct more women into the 8,200 cyber units. 

The increase of women combat soldiers has not come without criticism though, as conservative voices in Israel accuse the military of endangering national security by including women to reach gender equality, ToI reported.

Israel’s army response to such perspectives claims that the women are serving in the combat roles because they are needed there.

As the number of women soldiers in combat units increases, only a few have been granted senior official positions in the past year. 

In March 2021, Aviv Kochavi, chief of staff of Israel’s army, announced that he intended to propose a plan that would see the number of female senior officers rise by 50 percent within the next five years, ToI reported.

Earlier this year in July, Israel's Defense Minister Benny Gantz appointed a woman as the Israeli army's military advocate general, only the second female to hold the rank of major general in the country's history.

That same month, the Israeli army appointed its first-ever female deputy chief.