The March 2017 enlistment to combat units will begin from Tuesday. For the first time, a new mixed- gender unit will open and as part of the new initiative, women will be placed in different types of combat roles.
The new unit will be the fourth mixed-gender unit which has been established as part of the IDF's border patrol system and it will be deployed later in surveillance roles in the Jordan Valley.
There is a 5% increase in the motivation of females to serve in these units as compared to last year's enlistment. 80% of those assigned to the mixed-gender unit had stated before they joined the IDF that this was their highest preference.
The IDF says that "in the coming enlistments men and women from all levels of Israeli society will join the IDF and be assigned to combat units in the field as well as to combat support units and other IDF systems.