 |
| Pâ•qidꞋ Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋu |
2000.05.11 The Jerusalem Post, 2000.05.09, p. 9 – ”This chief of General Staff, [Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz,] more than any other, has expanded the role of female officers and soldiers in the IDF during the 22 months in his post. And he is bulldozing ahead with plans to blast apart the ‘men only need apply’ signs for as many posts in the IDF as possible…
”Israel is the only country in the world that subjects its women to conscription. Yet the opening of positions to women did not come from feminist pressures, as it had in other Western countries. The first woman pilot cadet was in fact admitted after a court ruling. But in the late 1990s the IDF, for generations a bastion of male domination, appeared to realize that it had not been utilizing a great commodity at its disposal: women. Mofaz said that the trend stems from his belief that women be allowed to participate equally in their national duty.
”’They are partners. Why? Because the law says they serve in the IDF,’ Mofaz says. ‘The other value is one of equality. Are they being given an equal opportunity in the army? And thirdly, is the quality of the women manifesting itself? …
”’It is my conviction that there are very many tasks which women can do at least as well as men. So I decided that the IDF would significantly open up the scope of military occupation specialties being offered to young women being drafted. If there are women who want to volunteer for combat units, then they will have to meet all the criteria, all of them’ Mofaz says.
”’Secondly, I think there are positions in the junior command level in combat units which women can do at least as well as men. This includes adjunct officers, ordnance officers, communication officers, operations officers and medical officers. There is no reason in the world why they shouldn’t. I want to give them this opportunity.
”’Thirdly, with regard to the senior command and training positions in the army at the colonel and brigadier-general level: Until today, [women] were not given the opportunity to compete for these positions because it was said that they didn’t do the [command] route that the males took.
”’But then you put the list of candidates on the table for appointments and you see that a female officer may be of a much higher quality than the male officer up for the post. It’s true that the male officer had a different route: he may have been an ordnance officer from the company to the brigade to the division level and she wasn’t. But why wasn’t she? Because she was never given the opportunity. Still, she may be more qualified than the male officer. Then who should be chosen? I will choose the most qualified,’ Mofaz says.
”Prof. Martin Vasn Creveld, a renowned historian at the Hebrew University of [Yᵊru•shâ•laꞋyim], believes that the increased presence of women at all ranks contributed to the decline in the IDF’s social prestige and growing difficulties in attracting first-class manpower. [personnel power, I don’t care for the clinical, dis-personal, phrase “human resources”; ybd]
”Mofaz doesn’t agree.
”’This is a process which won’t take just one day. If this process is stuck to over the years then I think you will find women officers in very many key positions,’ he says. ‘The army will become strengthened from the fact that qualified women officers will be in these posts and will contribute more to the army, and in my opinion, also to the society when they are released.’”
My daughter will be draft age in another 4 years. She will then have to make the choice faced by other Orthodox young women: to choose serving in the TzaꞋh"l or alternate national service (as a hospital, teacher or similar volunteer for the same 2-3 year period).
Alternate national service turns out to be an anchor when the service is completed and one begins a career. Not only has it provided no marketable skills and little marketable experience, employers regard “graduates” of national service akin to draft dodgers.
While many young Orthodox women still have tunnel-vision which sees only marriage and family at an early age, more-modern and enlightened young Orthodox women are thinking in terms of being able to contribute to their future family’s income, as well as develop and self-actualize their intelligence and capabilities. Such women are better equipped and recover more easily from the death of a husband, career set-backs of the husband, divorce and other of life’s tragedies. Consequently, they are better able to lead their families to recover from such tragedies. Probably most importantly, such women are far better equipped – in stark contrast to their less-educated and less-experienced peers – to raise, and especially educate, children who will, in turn, be equipped to succeed in the changing world of their time.
A deferment is typically offered to those with good grades to attend university before enlisting in the TzaꞋh"l. The deferment costs an extra year of service in the TzaꞋh"l. I’m advising my daughter that it’s an opportunity not to be missed. Not only is the deferred student able to finish their undergraduate degree, if it’s a B.S. in the right hi-tech field they will serve as an officer working in their field. There’s nothing Israeli employers crave more – and are willing to pay more for – than a young person with a degree AND the cutting-edge experience in the field which can only be obtained by service in the TzaꞋh"l. This is the goal toward which I’m encouraging my daughter. Moreover, there is a camaraderie among TzaꞋh"l veterans that Americans would recognize as a ‘good ole boys network’ – called "protekzia" in Israel – probably the #1 factor in Israel for landing the best jobs and careers.
 |
|
 |