International Women's Day, celebrated annually on March 8th, signifies the ongoing aspiration for equality between women and men, and is a good opportunity to reevaluate a women's status in Israeli society, specifically in the IDF.
Military service is a significant milestone in the lives of many Israeli teenagers. Therefore, practicing gender equality in the IDF has high significance and influence on Israeli society as a whole.
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Since its establishment, the IDF has recruited both men and women. However, in addition to the issue of equal recruitment, for many years female soldiers only served in "assisting position." We have come a long way since then, and this year we mark 20 years for the amendment of the Israeli Defense Service Law focusing on equality in service.
This amendment states that every woman has the right to apply to any position in the military unless the nature of the role dictates otherwise. Since the amendment came into force, most military positions have been opened for women and today, women serve across all corps.
This year, we witnessed numerous glass ceilings shattered by many talented, professional, inspirational female officers. For example: Col. N. is the first woman appointed regional command intelligence officer, Lt. Col. T. became the first IAF squadron commander, Maj. Efrat Kaikov was appointed the first Artillery Corps battalion commander and Maslo Taganya is the first Ethiopian officer to be promoted to the rank of Lt. Col. Each one of these women represents a newly paved path that many women can now walk.
Despite all these achievements, much work is still ahead of us. It is our duty to keep tearing down barriers for women in the IDF: We must strive to eradicate any case of women's exclusion, we must promote organizational culture that facilitates the proper balance between military service, family life, and leisure, and we must strive towards proper representation of women among the main decisionmakers.
These steps will guarantee that one day the promotion of women such as N., T., Kaikov and Taganya will become a matter of routine. International Women's Day is an important reminder of the duty we all have to consistently and diligently work towards fulfilling this vision.
