The Israeli military is exploring opening its elite search and rescue unit to women as part of increasing integration of female soldiers in combat units.
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Airborne Combat Search and Rescue Unit 669 is the IDF's heliborne extraction force. Officially part of the Israeli Air Force, Unit 669 serves as the IDF's primary rescue unit and is often sent to assist in complex civilian rescue missions as well.
The unique specialties and high proficiency of Unit 669 make it part of the military's array of special forces units, which to date do not include women.
The decision is part of the IDF's effort to integrate more women in infantry roles, sped up over several High Court of Justice petitions filed against the military over this issue.
The IDF began integrating women in combat roles only over the past 20 years, but 10% of the roles still remain off-limits to women over the fact that they are "core fighting roles." These, however, are the ones from which the top military echelon emerges and the IDF has faced criticism for effectively stemming women's progress in its ranks by denying them the opportunity to even try out for such roles.
"The issue of integrating women into additional combat roles is being comprehensively examined by a professional team. The professional team forwarded its recommendations thus far to the chief of staff, "the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said, adding that the military will inform the High Court of Justice of its position on the current petitions as requested.
The decision to open Unit 669 – where the complex nature of missions makes for especially arduous physical demands of soldiers – to women met with mix reactions.
Labor leader Merav Michaeli lauded the decision as "another important step for equally opportunities in the military."
The legal team involved in the current petition over excluding women from combat roles issued a statement calling the decision "a historic day. After three years of women fighting to be allowed to serve in the IDF's elite units and to be judged by their physical ability rather than their gender, the IDF is finally making a significant step toward equality."
They added that they will push the petition further "until such time that all special forces unit are open to women."
MK Avi Maoz, head of the radical Noam faction, slammed the "progressive agenda" rebind the IDF's decision.
"Only a few years ago, an in-depth review by the IAF ruled that the physical exertion required from [Unit] 669 teams could physically harm female combatants. Has it since been decided that there should be no effort in the IDF's special units or has women's muscle mass of changed?
"The agenda pushed by the New Israel Found and YOHALAM [the Hebrew acronym for the women's affairs adviser to the chief of staff] continues to dictate public agenda," he lashed. "The damage women's bodies will suffer and the blow to the IAF's search and rescue unit will pay in skills are apparently merely a 'necessary' and 'marginal' price to pay to realize these agendas."
Noam is an extremist religious-Zionist party that follows the teachings of Rabbi Zvi Yisrael Tau, co-founder and president of Yeshivat Har Hamor in Jerusalem. As such, Noam is known for its hardline anti-LGBTQ and anti-Reform positions. It was able to get elected to the Knesset only after parenting with Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, who himself partnered with Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich to make it pass the electoral threshold.
The "Torah-IDF" group, which claims to "work to strengthen Jewish identity and the fighting spirit in the IDF and the defense establishment, and combat radical leftist agendas in military ranks," also panned the decision as driven by "legal coercion, rather than professional considerations."
"It has once again been proven that extremist feminist organizations run the IDF through the High Court. Judicial activism has turned the senior military command into a soldier of the progressive Left," the group said in a statement.
"Blurring gender line has undermines operational ability, and the fighting spirit, as well as [soldiers'] ability to properly serve in the military. We call on the chief of staff to be the last gatekeeper against this attack, which fatally harms the IDF's operational and moral strength."
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