Female soldiers (illustrative)
Female soldiers (illustrative)Flash 90

The Knesset Foreign Relations and Security Committee debated this past Monday about integrating women into combat units in the army. Former female combat soldier Limor Lax, who was present at the discussion, said the army harmed her irreversibly and told her personal story.

"Three months after I was drafted, I began to suffer from injuries, and towards the end, I was completely bedridden," Lax began. "I was released after two years and four months of service. Today, I have physical handicaps and I take medication on a daily basis."

"Before I enlisted, I was completely healthy," she emphasized. "We all began our IDF service as completely healthy women, and we were injured. I don't know if it's the commanders' faults, or because of an inherent problem in the system. But if someone would have stopped the physical training, we would not have been harmed."

"My life will never be the same as it was before I enlisted. I have no regrets about enlisting. I wanted to contribute to the IDF. But my body couldn't do it, and I suffered physical damage. I came here today to encourage you to think about how we can prevent damage to other female soldiers.

"In my eyes, the yardstick of whether effort is being made is too big. Too many girls in my unit are also being harmed by boys. Women's jobs in the army need to be very carefully examined," Lax concluded.

The IDF now allows women to join coed combat units, despite scientific evidence proving such a move is ill-advised. At the end of January, the IDF announced plans to open a coed boot camp.