The 'Brotherhood in Arms' organization blasted Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) after he insisted that the IDF is promoting mixed-gender combat units out of pure military considerations.
"There is nothing more absurd than that statement," Brothers in Arms said in a press release. "The fact that they inaugurated this [mixed gender] base today is the army's admission of what we've been saying all along- that the integration of women in combat roles causes many injuries and constant damage to soldiers. "
"Your job is to take care of the IDF's power while protecting the health of soldiers and soldiers."
Liberman had said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the IDF's first gender-integrated base that "The IDF is not promoting any agenda, whether feminist or chauvinist. It promotes only one agenda: Israel's security."
According to Channel 2, the new base is made specially for female combat soldiers, and contains more doctors and dentists. It also has a mental health physician and additional physiotherapy hours, as well as an OB/GYN and other medical experts who will offer weekly appointments.
Brothers in Arms has been leading the opposition to moves the IDF has been making lately to launch mixed-gender combat units, and contends that the IDF is promoting such steps for social reasons, while disregarding the large number of injuries female combat soldiers sustain.
A recent poll found that found that 81% of Israelis say that the IDF is interested in expanding the number of female combat soldiers for social reasons, and not because the military requires them. Of that 81%, over 31% said that promoting equality was the only reason the IDF was promoting female soldiers, to the detriment of everything else.