The IDF held a planning meeting yesterday, led by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and attended by senior military officials and Ground Forces commanders, to review a planned pilot for integrating women into the maneuvering armored corps.
Zamir said the army’s operational needs require a thorough examination of female combat integration. He said the pilot will be judged by two main standards, uncompromising professional readiness under existing operational benchmarks, and the creation of a functional combat framework that can provide full training and support both security and combat missions.
He also said lessons from the recent war had sharpened the importance of individual combat readiness, from weapons handling to teamwork. Zamir instructed the army to protect the physical health of women during training, saying unusual injury rates are unacceptable and that professional adjustments must be made without harming operational readiness.
On the structure of the experiment, Zamir made clear that there is no intention to place men and women together in tank crews, either in training or during missions. If the pilot succeeds, women will serve in a separate dedicated framework, at least at company level. Combat under a battalion combat team will require adjustments under the joint service order. The assessment process is expected to begin ahead of the November draft, according to the set criteria.
