Women's representation in IDF career positions (permanent military service beyond mandatory conscription) has climbed seven percentage points over five years. As of 2024, women comprise one-third of all career soldiers, according to exclusive data obtained by Israel Hayom that Brig. Gen. Ela Shido Shachter, the gender affairs advisor to the chief of staff (the IDF's senior official responsible for gender integration policy), will present on Monday before the Knesset.
The data reveals that female officers in the IDF have surged by nine percentage points over the past five years, with women now accounting for 36% of the officer corps.
How has the officer landscape evolved?
Female non-commissioned officers have similarly increased by five percentage points over five years, with women now representing 31% of all IDF NCOs.
Moreover, despite an acute manpower crisis and the voluntary departure of hundreds of career personnel, soldiers are returning to service. The data shows nearly half of the 1,386 career personnel who rejoined the military are women.
What patterns emerge from the data?
Statistics spanning 2019-2024 demonstrate steady growth in women's representation across mid-level officer ranks, though substantial gaps persist at senior levels.
Among second lieutenants and lieutenants, women's share rose from 41% in 2019 to 44% in 2024, while the captain rank saw an increase from 29% to 34%. More substantial advances occurred at the major rank, from 27% in 2019 to 33% in 2024, with the lieutenant colonel rank experiencing the sharpest jump, from 18% to 23%.
Senior ranks tell a different story: Women's representation in the colonel rank climbed from nine percent to 14%, yet at the brigadier general level, it declined from eight percent in 2019 to merely five percent in 2024. At the major general rank, after one woman held this position in 2021 (7%), the number has remained negligible, hovering between 7 and 8% in recent years.
