IDF chief reiterates men and women won’t serve on the same tank crews in Armored Corps pilot program

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir stresses that men and women will not serve in the same tanks during training or operational activity, after the leaders of more than two dozen yeshivas threatened to stop sending their students to serve in tank units because of a pilot program integrating women into the Armored Corps.

Top military officials met yesterday to discuss the pilot program, which is due to begin in November.

During the meeting, Zamir determined that the success of the pilot will be measured based on the soldiers’ “professional proficiency, in accordance with existing operational standards and without compromise,” and the establishment of new frameworks “that will enable a full and professional training process and, subsequently, operational capability to carry out routine security and combat missions.”

Zamir also stressed “the importance of maintaining the physical health of the female soldiers throughout the training process, and emphasized that abnormal injury rates, as seen in previous pilots, are not reasonable and indicate a need for adjustment of the process without compromising operational proficiency.”

Additionally, Zamir stated that “there is no intention to integrate men and women together in tank crews, in training or in mission phases.”

The IDF says that if the trial succeeds, “the integration of women will be carried out within a dedicated framework, which will be at least at the company level.” An Armored Corps company is normally composed of 11 tanks.

However, women and men would likely end up serving together at the battalion and brigade levels in combat. The military says that in those cases, “adjustments will be required” in accordance with the army’s existing protocols on men and women serving together.