Two hundred and fifty-seven female officers in the Israel Defense Forces sent a letter to Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and the director-general of the Defense Ministry, in response to what they described as an anti-women wave against female combat soldiers and women in the army. The signatories said the campaign reflects broader pressure to push women out of military service.
In the letter, the officers warned that yielding to outside pressure amounts to a security failure. They demanded that the military and defense establishment repudiate the rabbis’ letters and any exclusion of women from the army, saying such moves threaten national security. “Stop the madness immediately,” they wrote.
The officers argued that female combat troops are not a matter for debate or a problem to be contained, but an established operational reality and a strategic asset. “The apology for our presence is over,” they added.
The letter was signed by senior officers from across the ranks, including six brigadier generals, seven colonels, and 28 lieutenant colonels.
