Yiftach Ron Tal
Yiftach Ron TalNissim Lev

Reserve Major-General Yiftach Ron-Tal, formerly the commander of the IDF's ground forces, fiercely criticized the decision to integrate female soldiers into the Armored Corps, saying those who push for it are out to weaken the IDF.

In an interview with Kalman Liebeskind on Galei Israel Radio, Ron-Tal said the decision to integrate women into the Armored Corps was a "scandal that will harm everything you can even think of, including the IDF's abilities to fight."

He also said the next thing feminist organizations would attempt will be to put women into the foot soldiers' combat units.

"The ones who are leading this push, are, excuse my expression, are imbeciles,"said Ron-Tal. "What, have they gone out of their minds? The next step isn't tanks, it's the paratroopers, the Golani and Givati troops, and then he haredi units."

Ron-Tal also revealed that there are several groups who have a vested interest in pushing women into all divisions of the IDF, in order to weaken it.

"These groups, and there are proofs for this, are trying to weaken the IDF. I heard this first hand and I suspect this so-called 'democratic' process is trying to weaken the army, and that is unthinkable. I'm really worried," he said.

"Anyone who has ever fought in these units knows that this will not only be something we will forever regret. It will turn the army into an army which cannot fight. This isn't related to women specifically, but to the fact that we'll be integrating people who are aren't fit for these jobs. Not all men are fit to be paratroopers or fight in the Golani units," Ron-Tal pointed out. "And now they want to integrate women, who not only aren't physically fit to fight, but also in Caracal (the infantry unit for women founded after pressure from feminist groups where acceptance and achievement standards were lowered, ed.) they are injured dozens of times more than men, and now you want them to be foot soldiers? It will one day turn the army into an army that can't fight.

"And since we are, unfortunately, in a country surrounded by hostile neighbors, most of whom are not interested in seeing us continue to exist, that's a big problem. There won't be anyone who can fight and protect us. I would hope that those who come after us will protect us, but I see they have decided to turn the IDF into a crippled army," Ron-Tal concluded.

Ron-Tal is not alone. The number of women joining combat units is at a record high, and experts suggested several months ago that women in combat would mean decreased fighting abilities for the IDF as a whole, in addition to the fact that 50% of the female soldiers in Caracal, for example, suffer permanent injuries such as ruptured discs, and others.