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To: 1010RD

More at the links, can’t post everything, I’m sure more searching would find even more evidence:

http://www.your-krav-maga-expert.com/women-in-idf.html

Women serve in support and combat support roles in the IDF, recently they have been allowed additional options but they still do not serve in active combat.

Around the world there has been some discussion about whether or not women should serve in active combat. In Israel it is clear that despite the vast contribution of women in the military, active combat is not an option. This decision is based on the physical and biological differences between men and women but also for moral reasons. As Michal, a combat instructor in the IDF, says, “No one wants to even think of the possibility of an Israeli girl falling into the hands of the enemy.” Our history is already filled with too many such stories of atrocities.

The Israeli military has always combined the practically of combat with the morality of our Jewish way of life.

For political reasons women’s groups have tried to break down barriers but the simple fact is that physically women are not capable of doing the job men do. There was an attempt to integrate women in the Search and Rescue units but it was discovered that a great deal of physical damage was caused to them as a result of the increased effort. Even the girls who were integrated into the anti-aircraft unit suffered great physical damage during the long hikes. They suffered more than 30% more stress factors than the boys.

Women serve in many capacities in the IDF such as intelligence, the Border Police, maintenance, supplies, secretarial duties, as well as serving in a variety of technical and administrative support roles. Over the course of the years, the number of military occupational specialties open to women in the IDF has expanded and today most jobs are open to women. Women are limited by nothing but their own ability.

Women have long served in technological positions, intelligence, operations and training. Likewise, women can be found servicing IDF computerized systems, working as computer programmers, smart weapons systems operators and electronics technicians. There is also a women’ soldiers-teachers unit, which teaches new immigrants and children in developing regions.

The bottom line is that in the Israeli Defense Forces, each soldier, male or female, will be assigned to the task where their contribution will be the greatest. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, the nation is more important then the preferences of any individual soldier. I have found that most soldiers are happy knowing that they are contributing their maximum. There is always an attempt to satisfy the ambitions of each soldier but ultimately the needs of the army come first.

http://www.wnd.com/2001/08/10269/

(Note - this wnd article is several years old, and feminists and other leftists are trying yet again to push women in combat as a good thing.)

It’s time to debunk the myth, once and for all, that Israel’s experience with allowing women in combat was successful and, therefore, should be duplicated by the Pentagon. It wasn’t successful. It was a disaster by Israel’s own admission.

“History shows that the presence of women has had a devastating impact on the effectiveness of men in battle,” wrote John Luddy in July 27, 1994, for the Heritage Foundation backgrounder.

“For example, it is a common misperception that Israel allows women in combat units. In fact, women have been barred from combat in Israel since 1950, when a review of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War showed how harmful their presence could be. The study revealed that men tried to protect and assist women rather than continue their attack. As a result, they not only put their own lives in greater danger, but also jeopardized the survival of the entire unit. The study further revealed that unit morale was damaged when men saw women killed and maimed on the battlefield,” Luddy said.

Writes Edward Norton, a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces: “Women have always played an important role in the Israeli military, but they rarely see combat; if they do, it is usually by accident. No one in Israel, including feminists, has any objection to this situation. The fact that the Persian Gulf War has produced calls to allow women on the front lines proves only how atypical that war was and how little Americans really understand combat.”

“Few serious armies use women in combat roles. Israel, which drafts most of its young women and uses them in all kinds of military work, has learned from experience to take them out of combat zones. Tests show that few women have the upper-body strength required for combat tasks. Keeping combat forces all male would not be discriminatory, as were earlier racial segregation schemes in the military, because men and women are different both physically and psychologically,” said the Feb. 5, 1990, National Review.

(Note: The below is interesting, as Elaine Donnelly is an expert and knows what she’s talking about. Yet the article is in favor (apparently) of women in combat anyway. It’s a sort of “don’t confuse me with the facts” leftist mindset.)

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/is-the-idf-ready-for-women-in-combat-1.219239

Elaine Donnelly is certainly no radical feminist. Quite the contrary. Opponents of the integration of female combat troops in the IDF frequently cite Donnelly, an American researcher who heads a conservative Washington organization called The Center for Military Preparedness. In the early 1990s, Donnelly was a member of the Presidential Commission appointed by President George Bush, Sr. to examine the issue of women in combat. Her research took her to some extraordinary places, from flying in a fighter jet to observing a training session regarding captivity of female pilots, which included a scenario simulating rape in captivity.

“In the collision between the needs of the army and equality for women, the army has to get priority,” she told Haaretz. Donnelly read interviews with the various Yohalan officers and concluded that the IDF tends toward more of an extreme than the British and American armies. “Their priorities are confused. The frequent use of feminist expressions gives rise to demoralization among the male fighters. This kind of attitude can have an adverse effect on volunteering for combat units. It’s important not to break the unit’s cohesion and the soldiers’ trust in the command hierarchy. Without them, there’s no discipline. It’s just a bunch of people with weapons.”

Lowering standards to integrate female fighters detracts from a unit’s preparedness for the reality of battle, she says. “The result is that lives will be lost and missions will be harmed. If the tendency promoted by the Yohalan is accepted, military culture will change. They’re trying to make the army gentler and more sensitive, but this is the only army you’ve got. There is no substitute for it.”

Her solution: A return to the Miller High Court petition, i.e., preventing discrimination in admitting women to courses, but not their mass integration into front-line units. “A man can lug 45 kilos and march 30 kilometers. Load that on a female body and what you get are broken bones.”


209 posted on 02/18/2012 10:23:07 AM PST by little jeremiah (We will have to go through hell to get out of hell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 174 | View Replies ]


To: little jeremiah

You seem familiar with the situation in Israel. I’ve never been able to find out if the Iraeli army accomodates females with much lowered height, weight and physical fitness standards, as they do in the US military. Perhaps you know?


235 posted on 02/19/2012 3:52:35 PM PST by MSF BU
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