The IDF marked another milestone for women in combat on Thursday with the promotion of Col. Reut Retig-Weiss to command the 99th Division's Artillery Brigade, as well as an artillery unit at the military's Tze'elim urban warfare training center in southern Israel.
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According to the IDF, Retig-Weiss is the first woman at this rank to serve as a combat officer in the Artillery Corps.
The IDF recently decided to open the door for women to serve in the Israeli Air Force's elite 669 heliborne search and rescue unit, as well as opening the elite Yahalom Combat Engineering Unit to women.
The military is also considering setting up female-only platoons in either the Givati or Nahal infantry brigades – mostly likely in combat intelligence or transport roles.
The decision to open Unit 669 – where the complex nature of missions imposes especially arduous physical demand, potentially behind enemy lines – to women has been met with mixed reactions.
Rabbis at prominent hesder yeshivas within the religious Zionist camp, meanwhile, have already said they would instruct their pupils to boycott mixed-gender units.
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