Teens appeal to High Court for IDF to open all combat units to women
"We are not asking for the conditions to be changed for us, but just let us try – and if we are found to be compatible, to have us join," Mor Lidani told N12.
By ALON EINHORNThe cadets at the infantry instructor's course at the Squad Commanders and Infantry School took part in field week. The soldiers learned survival skills, slept and trained in the field, and took one step closer to completing the prestigious course.Southern Israel(photo credit: ABIR SULTAN/FLASH90)
Four 18-year-old women filed a petition on Wednesday to the High Court of Justice, calling on Defense Minister Benny Gantz and IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi to allow women to be included in"sorting days" to test potential inductees for all combat units.The petition was filed by Mika Kliger, Mor Lidani, Gali Nishri and Omer Saria, who said they filed it in hopes of being able to join their male counterparts in sorting days for combat and commando units."We are not asking for the conditions to be changed for us, but just let us try – and if we are found to be compatible, to have us join," Lidani told N12.Kliger added that "I want everyone to understand that we are not just trying to do something out of spite, we are here because we want to contribute and we want to volunteer. The military needs to see this important opportunity for women to serve in all units."“In today’s reality, in which the IDF strives to achieve gender equality, it was only a matter of time for such a petition to be submitted to the Supreme Court in a bid to enable women to serve in the IDF’s elite combat units," said Dr. Idit Shafran Gittleman, an expert on gender equality in the IDF at the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI)."This petition, which joins others that were recently filed, creates positive pressure on IDF decision-makers to open all positions to women," she said. "This is a positive and welcome development. The time has come for the IDF to open all service units to professional criterion, not based on gender, similar to the systems in place in the US and the United Kingdom."She said that "A categorical denial of certain positions to applicants based on gender is inconsistent with the principle of equality. The IDF should enable women to apply and serve in all relevant units based on their skills and abilities, and not deny them the right to serve their country based merely on their gender."Prior to their draft into the IDF, the army holds sorting days for male draftees to test and assess their physical and mental attributes to decide if they are compatible for commando units or other combat roles."The IDF is the last Western army in the world that sorts people according to their genitalia and not their skills and abilities," Labor MK Merav Michaeli wrote on Twitter. "Let's hope the High Court makes sure the IDF stops this humiliation and waste of potential human resources."The High Court of Justice instructed the government and the IDF to file a preliminary response to the petition within two months.
In January, two women who successfully finished the IDF’s tank commanders course filed a petition, together with their officer, to the High Court, demanding that women be allowed to serve in the Armored Corps.“The IDF of 2020 discriminates against women just because they are women,” the petition read.In response, Kochavi claimed that the IDF will continue attempting to integrate women into the Armored Corps."In every place that women can be integrated and can succeed, they will be there,' the IDF spokesman added.According to a study by the IDI, the number of women combat soldiers in ground forces has increased exponentially since 2012, reaching up to 2,656 in 2017, while the percentage of female soldiers serving in clerical positions declined.Anna Ahronheim contributed to this article.
