FOCUS -J The Woman's Place In A High-Tech Army High-tech has transformed the Israeli army — and the role of its women soldiers, who now perform a variety of vital functions. HELEN DAVIS Special to The Jewish News I t is just 8 a.m. and Ronit Natan is already hard at work. Sqatting on top of a mean, ugly Merkava tank at a dusty Israel Army base near lel Aviv, a floppy khaki hat shading her eyes from the early morning sun, 20-year- old Ronit is patiently intro- ducing a group of young male army recruits to the user- friendly features of one of the most advanced war machines in the world. Not even the novelty of a journalist and photographer looking on is allowed to inter- rupt the lesson. "You see," she says later, "a mistake on my part could cost them their lives in combat:' Sergeant Ronit Natan is an instructor in the Armored Corps of the Israel Defense Forces. A few years ago, she would probably have filled in her two years of compulsory military service operating a telephone switchboard, typ- ing letters and making coffee for senior officers. A recent revolution, however, has cat- apulted Israeli women soldiers from the typing pool to the business end of some of the most sophisticated military hardware available. Women do indeed still pro- vide the secretarial services for the various branches of the defense establishment. But now they are also the drill sergeants and instruc- 62 Friday, August 22, 1986 tors. They teach male recruits how to fly supersonic jet fighters; how to march; how to strip down sub-machine guns; how to operate tanks, huge artillery pieces and com- puterized rocket launchers. They are graduates of the General Staff and Command College and the Naval Mari- time Masters' course. They are drivers and mechanics. And they manage the bulk of the sophisticated computer operations in this super- computerized army. They also operate electronic early- warning devices on *border outposts and undertake high- ly classified intelligence work. They work as military po- lice, as technicians in the ar- my, navy and air force, and as social workers, medics and teachers, lifting male recruits from underprivileged and problem backgrounds to the minimum level required for army service. What separates the men from the women is combat: unlike the early years of the Jewish state, when all hands were needed on the front lines, current army regula- tions bar women from any tasks that involve the risk of actual combat. In the Leba- non war, for example, women soldiers performed many technical tasks, but were kept away from the actual battle zones. Given the push-button nature of modern warfare, the demand for fluency in high- tech far exceeds the need for THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS physical brawn. And the young women soldiers have been• quick to seize the challenge. In fact, they have taken over so many of the technological and training functions — and are perform- ing them so well — that other national defense forces are now taking a keen interest in the Israeli experience. The West German Bundes- wehr, for example, recently dispatched a top-level delega- tion to study the role of the Israeli woman soldier. And its members came away im- pressed. Indeed, young women like Ronit Natan are impressive. Attractive and feminine, even in rumpled fatigues, she wears the green and black lanyard of an Armored Corps instructor and the badge awarded to those soldiers who have completed the punishing tank-warfare course. She also wears all the jewelry permit- ted a female soldier: a pearl pendant, earring studs, a ring — and a wobbly-eyed dog brooch pinned to her cap. She has a presence unusual in a woman of her age, and the young men under her com- mand readily accept her authority. "Ronit gets more out of them than a male instructor would," declares the regimen- tal sergeant-major at her base, a clealning surrounded by rich kibbutz farmland and cluttered with prefab huts and tents, "home" to hun- dreds of mostly male army recruits. "The men work harder for women instructors. There are no disciplinary problems:' "Why not," shrugs an 18- year old male soldier. "She knows what she's talking about and it's nice to have a pretty face to look at for a change. Maybe we follow orders from a woman even better than for a man." Ronit, who also trains tank commanders and officer can- didates much older than herself, acknowledges the in- evitable sexual tensions that are part of her job. "In the beginning," she says, "I stand in froht of each new group of 25 men and I can feel them looking me over. They are deciding whether I'm attrac- tive, whether they'd like to start up a relationship with me. I understand that. But I earn their respect by knowing my subject." Ronit s parents were ap- palled when they learned she had been selected for a special tank instructors' course. "They didn't think it was a nice job for their daughter at all," she grins. "But now they are very proud of me." Ronit, who plans to study sociology and Middle East history when she completes her two years of military ser- vice later this year, says her feelings about the equality of men and women are even stronger now. "In fact," she An Israeli woman soldier, top left, qualifies with a combat weapon during training for the Israel Defense Forces. At top right, Brigadier Gen. Amira Dotan chats with a new recruit. Above, Israeli women soldiers line up at the ready on a rifle Photos By Richard Nowitz range.