IDF Clarifies: No Order to Recruit Female Tank Crews, Only a Pilot for Review

In video: Women in a tank / Photo: Shai Makhlouf, video editing: Ran Tzimt, graphic design: Avichai Baruch

The IDF issued a clarification today, Wednesday, amid public and legal debate over the integration of women in combat roles, saying that the High Court of Justice did not order the enlistment of female soldiers into the Armored Corps, but only the conduct of a pilot on the matter. The army stressed that the pilot is intended to examine the possibility in an initial way, and that it is an experiment that does not require a decision on full integration.

According to the statement, after about two and a half years of multi-front fighting and the expansion of the IDF's missions, "the IDF needs every soldier and every female soldier," and the army sees importance in integrating all populations while preserving different needs, without harming one population at the expense of another.

The IDF needs every soldier and every female soldier / IDF Spokesperson

The IDF said the pilot will be conducted in accordance with the Joint Service Order and while meeting operational and professional standards, and that "among all the options being examined, there is no alternative in which shared service of men and women in the same framework will take place." It was also reported that the pilot has not yet been presented to the Chief of Staff, and the issue is expected to come up for discussion soon. At the same time, the IDF says it is in ongoing contact with heads of hesder yeshivas and representatives of the national-religious public regarding the issue.

Against this backdrop, the public debate over the High Court ruling on integrating women into the Armored Corps continues to stir controversy. Rabbi Tamir Granot, head of the "Orot Shaul" hesder yeshiva, criticized the decision and argued that without High Court intervention, the army would not have advanced the pilots. In his view, this is legal coercion that could affect the IDF's character as a people's army.