Editing Israel Defense Forces (section)

===Women===
{{Main|Women in the Israel Defense Forces}}
[[File:Nightshot3332214.JPG|thumb|IDF Warrant Officers with the M16 and [[IWI X95]]; two common assault rifles of the IDF.]]
Israel is one of only a few nations that conscript women or deploy them in combat roles, although in practice, women can avoid conscription through a religious exemption and over a third of Israeli women do so.<ref>[http://forward.com/articles/121173/abuse-of-idf-exemptions-questioned/ Abuse of IDF Exemptions Questioned] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210075735/http://forward.com/articles/121173/abuse-of-idf-exemptions-questioned/ |date=10 February 2015 }} The Jewish Daily Forward, 16 December 2009</ref> As of 2010, 88% of all roles in the IDF are open to female candidates, and women could be found in 69% of all IDF positions.<ref>[http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2010/08/25/statistics-womens-service-in-the-idf-for-2010-25-aug-2010/ Statistics: Women's Service in the IDF for 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513215641/https://www.idfblog.com/blog/2010/08/25/statistics-womens-service-in-the-idf-for-2010-25-aug-2010/ |date=13 May 2015 }} IDF, 25 August 2010</ref>

According to the IDF, 535 female Israeli soldiers were killed during service in the period 1962–2016,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.719038?v=BDD11CFC5DFD7E6A2F0CD56A63DF587A|title=Israeli woman who broke barriers downed by Hezbollah rocket as 2006 combat volunteer – Israel News|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=29 May 2016|archive-date=6 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806094515/http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.719038?v=BDD11CFC5DFD7E6A2F0CD56A63DF587A|url-status=live}}</ref> and dozens before then. The IDF says that fewer than 4 percent of women are in combat positions. Rather, they are concentrated in "combat-support" positions which command a lower compensation and status than combat positions.<ref name="Gaza: It's a Man's War">[https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/gaza-a-mans-war-israel-gender/375689/ Gaza: It's a Man's War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308050053/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/gaza-a-mans-war-israel-gender/375689/ |date=8 March 2017 }} The Atlantic, 7 August 2014</ref>

Civilian pilot and aeronautical engineer Alice Miller successfully petitioned the High Court of Justice to take the Israeli Air Force pilot training exams, after being rejected on grounds of gender. Though president [[Ezer Weizman]], a former IAF commander, told Miller that she would be better off staying home and darning socks, the court eventually ruled in 1996 that the IAF could not exclude qualified women from pilot training. Even though Miller would not pass the exams, the ruling was a watershed, opening doors for women in new IDF roles. Female legislators took advantage of the momentum to draft a bill allowing women to volunteer for any position if they could qualify.<ref name="feldinger">{{cite news|author=Lauren Gelfond Feldinger|title=Skirting history|work=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=22 March 2011|date=21 September 2008|url=http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=114834|archive-date=21 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221192954/https://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=114834|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2000, the Equality Amendment to the Military Service law stated that the right of women to serve in any role in the IDF is equal to the right of men.<ref name=mfaWomen>{{cite web|title=Integration of women in the IDF|publisher=Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Israel+beyond+politics/Integration_women_in_IDF-March_2009|access-date=23 March 2011|date=8 March 2009|archive-date=14 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091114102140/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Israel%2Bbeyond%2Bpolitics/Integration_women_in_IDF-March_2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Women have served in the military since before the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.<ref name="womenIDF">{{cite web|title=Women in the IDF|url=http://idfspokesperson.com/2011/03/07/women-in-the-idf/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311125757/http://idfspokesperson.com/2011/03/07/women-in-the-idf/|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 March 2011|publisher=Israel Defense Forces|access-date=22 March 2011|date=7 March 2011}}</ref> Women started to enter combat support and light combat roles in a few areas, including the Artillery Corps, infantry units and armoured divisions. A few platoons named Karakal were formed for men and women to serve together in light infantry. By 2000, Karakal became a [[Caracal Battalion|full-fledged battalion]], with a second mixed-gender battalion, Lions of the Jordan (אריות הירדן, Arayot Ha-Yarden) formed in 2015. Many women also joined the [[Israeli Border Police|Border Police]].<ref name="feldinger" />

In June 2011, Maj. General [[Orna Barbivai]] became the first female major general in the IDF, replacing the head of the directorate Maj. General Avi Zamir. Barbivai stated, "I am proud to be the first woman to become a major general and to be part of an organization in which equality is a central principle. Ninety percent of jobs in the IDF are open to women and I am sure that other women will continue to break down barriers."<ref name="The Jerusalem Post">{{cite news|last=Katz|first=Yaakov|title=Orna Barbivai becomes first female IDF major general|url=http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=226336|access-date=10 July 2012|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post|date=23 July 2011|archive-date=17 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017072546/http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=226336|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Yedioth Ahronot">{{cite news|last=Greenberg|first=Hanan|title=IDF names 1st female major-general|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4074563,00.html|access-date=10 July 2012|newspaper=Yedioth Ahronot|date=26 May 2011|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411122055/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4074563,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2013, the IDF announced they would, for the first time, allow a transgender woman to serve in the army as a female soldier.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://awiderbridge.org/transgender-in-the-idf/#sthash.ZAUcxHOz.dpuf |title=Transgender in the IDF |publisher=AWiderBridge |date=7 August 2013 |access-date=3 August 2014 |archive-date=6 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306122521/http://awiderbridge.org/transgender-in-the-idf/#sthash.ZAUcxHOz.dpuf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Elana Sztokman notes it would be "difficult to claim that women are equals in the IDF". "And tellingly, there is only one female general in the entire IDF," she adds.<ref name="Gaza: It's a Man's War"/> In 2012, religious soldiers claimed they were promised they would not have to listen to women sing or lecture, but IAF Chief Rabbi Moshe Raved resigned because male religious soldiers were being required to do so.<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4171199,00.html Haredi soldier warns: We'll leave IDF over women's singing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141223021953/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4171199,00.html |date=23 December 2014 }} YNET, 4 January 2012</ref> In January 2015, three women IDF singers performed in one of the IDF's units. The performance was first disrupted by fifteen religious soldiers, who left in protest and then the Master Sergeant forced the women to end the performance because it was disturbing the religious soldiers. An IDF spokesperson announced an investigation of the incident: "We are aware of the incident and already begun examining it. The exclusion of women is not consistent with the values of the IDF."<ref>[http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/politics-and-military/military/female-soldiers-were-not-permitted-to-sing-the-national-anthem-10905 Female soldiers were not permitted to sing the national anthem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206060530/http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/politics-and-military/military/female-soldiers-were-not-permitted-to-sing-the-national-anthem-10905 |date=6 February 2015 }} Jerusalem Online, 11 January 2015</ref>

Defense Minister [[Moshe Ya'alon]] has also arranged for women to be excluded from recruitment centres catering to religious males.<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4586197,00.html IDF offers haredim 'women-free' recruitment centers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707025017/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4586197,00.html |date=7 July 2017 }} YNET, 31 October 2014</ref> As the IDF recruits more religious soldiers, the rights of male religious soldiers and women in the IDF come into conflict. Brig. Gen. Zeev Lehrer, who served on the chief of staff's panel of the integration of women, noted "There is a clear process of 'religionization' in the army, and the story of the women is a central piece of it. There are very strong pressures at work to halt the process of integrating women into the army, and they are coming from the direction of religion."<ref>[http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/10/women_in_israel_as_the_idf_becomes_more_religious_the_rights_of_female_soldiers.2.html No Touching] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207205948/http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/10/women_in_israel_as_the_idf_becomes_more_religious_the_rights_of_female_soldiers.2.html |date=7 February 2015 }} Slate, 11 October 2012</ref>

[[Sex segregation]] is allowed in the IDF, which reached what it considers a "new milestone" in 2006, creating the first company of soldiers segregated in an all-female unit, the Nachshol (Hebrew for "giant wave") Reconnaissance Company. "We are the only unit in the world made up entirely of female combat soldiers," said Nachshol Company Commander Cpt. Dana Ben-Ezra. "Our effectiveness and the dividends we earn are the factors by which we are measured, not our gender."<ref>[http://www.idf.il/1283-18166-en/Dover.aspx Leading the way in gender equality] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207212614/http://www.idf.il/1283-18166-en/Dover.aspx |date=7 February 2015 }} IDF, 27 January 2013</ref>

With the rise of social media platforms such as [[TikTok]] and [[Twitter]], some critics claim that women in the IDF are frequently used as tools of propaganda, with official military accounts frequently posting attractive young women to create a sympathetic social media presence.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Dickson |first=Ej |date=2021-05-27 |title=Why Are Israeli Defense Forces Soldiers Posting Thirst Traps on TikTok? |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/israel-defense-force-idf-tiktok-thirst-trap-1174211/ |access-date=2024-01-24 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref>