In the beginning of March, the Israeli air force posted a promotional video it called “Feminine Power” to Facebook. The video, a little over a minute long, showed women in various roles in the air force, from operational officers, mechanics and war room commanders to navigators and combat pilots. Over the action, a narrator hinted at criticism of anyone who tries to distance women from combat roles in the Israel Defense Force (IDF). “They say,” goes the narration, “that women can’t be fighters, they’re not built for it, are not physically suited to it, and they should stay at home with the kids. They say that women can’t serve in operational roles. Her poor kids. Her poor husband. You can’t really do it, and women don’t have what it takes. So they say.”
The video quickly went viral and sparked a public uproar in Israel before it was taken down. It turned out that the video was produced and posted without coordination with the IDF. It was viewed as arguing against religious and conservative forces that have in recent years waged a rearguard battle against opening many combat roles in the IDF to women. In light of this sensitivity, the IDF decided to simply remove it from the web. But the structural tension between the two poles won’t be resolved by the video’s removal.
