One of the female tankers
One of the female tankersIDF Spokesperson

After a two-year test process which included training and active service periods, IDF Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi accepted the recommendation of Ground Forces chief, Major General Tamir Yad'ai, and decided that the trial period of female tankers was successful. From now on female soldiers will be regularly enlisted in tank units.

The findings of the first trial were inconclusive and a second trial was needed. The second trial tested the option of integrating female tankers into the border security system, according to clear and set criteria. After the second trial and the testing of all of the professional parameters, it was decided that women will serve in tanks as part of the border security system.

The IDF claims that the chief of staff's decision was based on professional and operational considerations and with the IDF's needs in mind after the female soldiers qualified under the pre-defined criteria. The trial included three recruitment cycles, including a full training process (from basic until command) and a year of operational duty.

According to the IDF spokesperson, "The trial was a success due to the qualification under the criteria, on both a team and personal level, successful operational duty in the long term, continuously high motivation throughout the service through the training, command, and officer training periods, and a dropout rate that doesn't exceed the norm."

Due to the trial's success, the program will become permanent and women will be regularly integrated into the unit. The tank squad will be part of the border security force.

Chief of Staff Kochavi stated: "We are completing a professional and in-depth process, as part of the outlook according to which the IDF is making more and more jobs available to women. I trust that the tankers will perform the task of border security professionally and successfully, and will be an integral part of the IDF's operational effort"

The IDF's move does not come without criticism; Torat Lehima, an organization that fights for Jewish and conservative values in the IDF, stated: "It's unfortunate that the chief of staff announces 'success' which he himself doesn't believe in, just because he's under pressure from the supreme court. The first pilot program failed in 2015 because the women couldn't meet the physical requirements which were set. After that, there were two more trials, due to pressure from the supreme court and radical feminists. These were not to build the IDF's strength, and even though they failed, somehow the pilot was a success. The IDF's goal is to win and defeat the enemy, and not to be a 'test site' for false equality which we haven't even seen in sports. The public is healthy and understands this, the nation of Israel will clear the judicial activism and the weaknesses that harm the IDF out from the root.