PHOTOS BY ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES

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allowed to humiliate a female soldier,
only because she is a woman, and the
response of the IDF spokesperson is that
they held a clarifying conversation about
the incident,” the group said in a state-
ment.
The organization said it scheduled
a meeting with the head of the IDF’s
Manpower Division in which it would
present “dozens of testimonies from
female soldiers” who were similarly
insulted.
“[The representatives from the orga-
nization] will clarify that the IDF must
protect the dignity of female soldiers.
The only way to do this is with institu-
tional training and severe punishment for
those who violate army orders,” the Israel
Women’s Network said.

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JUDAH ARI GROSS TIMES OF ISRAEL

D

ozens of religious soldiers from
the IDF’s Paratroopers Brigade
refused to listen to a female para-
chuting instructor recently, turning their
backs to her when she tried to give them
a demonstration.
The incident came to light after the
mother of the instructor, Shira Margalit,

TOP: An illustra-
tive image of an IDF
female soldier.
RIGHT: An IDF para-
chuting instructor
poses with her father,
Maj. Gen. Aharon
Haliva, the head of
IDF Operations, before
a jump on April 19,
2018.

who runs a popular women’s news web-
site, posted about it on Twitter.
“I barely fell asleep last night after a
hard day in which I had to hear my sol-
dier daughter Noa, a parachuting instruc-
tor, tell me that when she was giving a
demonstration to 70 paratroopers dur-
ing an exercise, 50 of them turned their
backs to her and stood themselves in
lines because she was a woman!” Margalit
wrote.

30

August 16 • 2018

jn

The Israel Defense Forces later con-
firmed that the incident indeed took
place, but disputed the number of sol-
diers involved in the protest.
“Approximately 30 recruits who did not
want to watch the presentation that was
put on by the female soldier turned their
heads [away from her],” the army said in a
statement.
According to the IDF, the sol-
diers were from a unit made up
of religious yeshivah students.
The army said the soldiers’
commander had a “conversation”
with them following the incident,
telling them that they would be
kicked out of the parachuting
course if they continued to show
“disrespect” toward the female
instructors.
The instructor is the daughter
of the head of IDF Operations,
Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva.
In its statement, the military
said the IDF sees importance
in maintaining an “egalitarian
vision” and strives to conduct its
activities “regardless of religion,
race and gender.”
The Israel Women’s Network activist
group criticized the army for its limited
response and implied that the IDF was
being hypocritical by playing up the
achievements of female soldiers while
allowing situations like this to take place.
“As the IDF is announcing that it is
appointing the first female head of an
air force flight squadron, there is a par-
allel reality in which male soldiers are

On Aug. 7, the IDF announced it was
appointing the first female commander
of a flight squadron: the Nachshon
Squadron, which operates surveillance
aircraft.
The 34-year-old transport plane pilot,
whose name cannot be published for
security reasons, will replace the current
commander of the squadron in the com-
ing months.
“I’m happy about the appointment,”
she said in a statement from the military.
“It is a great privilege along with a great
responsibility. The true work is still ahead.
I am proud to serve in the air force.”
In addition to the IDF’s announce-
ment last week about the female
squadron commander, the paratrooper
incident also came as the military saw
the largest number of women joining
combat units.
Some 1,000 women were inducted into
the military to serve in combat units this
summer, 150 more female recruits than in
2017 and nearly double the total amount
of female combat soldiers that served in
the IDF in 2012 — 547, according to IDF
statistics.
The issue of female soldiers interacting
with religious servicemen has long been
a bone of contention in Israeli society.
Proponents of gender integration main-
tain that it is necessary to ensure equality
for men and women, while opponents
claim that it violates religious soldiers’
right to practice their faith.
Male soldiers who serve in ultra-Ortho-
dox, or haredi, units are generally not
required to interact with female troops,
though most other religious soldiers must
receive special permission to get out of
activities with members of the opposite
sex.
Controversies about the issue typically
arise over IDF dress codes — specifically
for sports and other activities that take
place out of uniform — or over women
singing at ceremonies, which some reli-
gious soldiers refuse to listen to.
In April, for instance, a female IDF offi-
cer was reportedly told she could not read
a prayer for fallen soldiers at her unit’s
commemoration ceremony for Memorial
Day out of consideration for religious
troops. The military later said the inci-
dent was a “mistake,” which was not in
line with army policy. •