IDF to integrate women into elite air force unit
In another victory in the principle of gender equality, the Israel Defense Forces will now open its air force elite Rescue Unit 669 to women.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Friday morning that Chief of Staff of Aviv Kochavi has decided to expand the integration of women in the military by opening the air force’s elite Search and Rescue Unit 669 to female recruits. Kochavi is expected to make other, similar decisions over the next few days, including a decision to integrate women into the mobile unit of an infantry brigade.
Regardless of his final decision, however, Kochavi has until June 1 to respond to petitions submitted to the Supreme Court over his failure to integrate women more fully into the IDF.
His decision would set an important precedent. For years, the IDF refused to allow women to serve in its elite units, including infantry brigades. Senior officers argued that the inclusion of women in certain operational roles in these units would interfere with the units’ overall mission and the health of women serving in combat roles.
The truth of the matter is that even now, the IDF did not volunteer to open additional combat units to women. It was ordered to do so as a result of two Supreme Court rulings. The first was by a woman whose participation in a pilots’ course was interrupted, and the second by four young women before their enlistment, who wanted to serve in combat roles, which are currently barred to them.
