Shimon Shterk, a former tank examiner with decades of experience in the Armored Corps, says the debate over integrating women into maneuvering tank units is ignoring what he sees as a major health risk. In an interview with Channel 7, he argued that the physical strain of handling tank ammunition and equipment could seriously damage the health of female soldiers over time.
Shterk said each tank carries close to 50 shells, each weighing about 20 to 25 kilograms, and crews must remove and reload them repeatedly. He claimed that a female soldier would likely collapse after only a few shells and that help from three soldiers from another tank would be needed to lift them. He also pointed to other heavy tasks, including lifting machine-gun ammunition boxes, handling machine guns, replacing tank tracks in mud or sand, and striking pins with a 5-kilogram hammer.
He said the issue is not being discussed in senior military forums, noting that the Chief Medical Officer or a representative was not present in the reported talks at the Chief of Staff’s office. According to Shterk, “The most important person who should have been there” was absent, and “the health issue did not come up.” He said the omission is political, claiming there are pressures on the army similar to those pushing other elite units to integrate female fighters.
Shterk also said tank crews must unload shells whenever a tank is transported, for example from Gaza to Lebanon or the Golan Heights, and then reload them at the destination. He argued that this repeated lifting is not being taken into account and warned about long-term effects after two or three years of service, including consequences for future reserve duty, marriage, childbearing, and even fertility. He said former tank soldiers in his unit’s WhatsApp group agreed with him, while criticizing the lack of protests and public opposition from former armored corps officers.
