When the young woman in the video below woke up on the morning of October 7, she undoubtedly did not imagine that a few weeks later, she would be standing with Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, telling him what transpired that day.
But she did end up telling him, because during that day, she and her fellow female tank crews made history—not just Israeli history, but history period. Here (below) is the meeting with Halevi, and what Halevi said to the crews (note the entirely mixed gender group of soldiers) when she was finished explaining what had transpired. (We didn’t translate what she says, because she covers the same material in the video above.)
Halevi:
As you know, there has been an ongoing conversation in Israeli society over the past years as to whether or not women should be in combat positions. Sometimes, one needs to speak a great deal to explain something. We tried it in practice drills, we tried it in training exercises, we tried it in operations in normal times, but I think that here we received an answer without words. It’s the answer that comes from performance in wartime combat.
The video at the top was prepared by Keshet 12 news (and disseminated by Niv Calderon on his twitter feed). It speaks for itself.
The Times of Israel also covered their story here:
The dispute about women in combat positions is far from over, I suspect. There are religious objections that have nothing to do with their battlefield capabilities or performance, and good old fashioned chauvinism in other cases.
But across the Israeli press, one hears that the needle has moved significantly. If it has, then these are some of the women who have changed history.
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In the interim, we’ll post as possible. Here in Israel, there are non-stop funerals to go to, shiva homes to visit, grandchildren to help care for while sons and daughters are in the army, so we’ll see.
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I can't help but contrast these women with those of similar age in US universities, chanting pro-Palestine mantras. You have Israeli women defending their country, while we have mindless twits that couldn't find Israel on a map, all while covering their faces lest their mothers recognize them.
You're right except that that's not why they're covering their faces...
I saw this article on the news! These girls are heroes! Gunned down the most brutal enemy on the planet, without fear.
They set a new standard for female capability on the battlefield 💪🇮🇱
Can't help but pair this with the reporting about the young female soldiers in intelligence whose multiple warnings about Hamas preparations to attack were ignored. Sexism is lethal not just to women but to the whole society. And the converse is true too -- treating women as capable keeps the whole country safer.
Yes, that report was disturbing, though I would not attribute the failure of the Israeli defense to that alone. There are many reasons Hamas was able to perpetrate and attack so lethally on October 7th, including IDF intelligence failures, and IDF strategic failures (e.g., the fact that brigades were moved from Gaza to the West Bank, the fact that the IDF slowly relied more on high-tech defense and less on man/woman power, etc.). The government and defense ministry failed as well. The list is very long and its analysis will be a prime-time spectacle in itself.
This story of the women in tanks is one of many heroic feats of IDF and security forces to combat the terrorists on that dreadful day. In all the stories the Israeli forces were outnumbered and fought heroically to mitigate the scale of the attack.
But I do agree that women should hold more positions of power and lead countries. They control their egos better :)
Warnings from men were ignored also. Warning prior to the Yom Kippur war were ignored by Golda Meir, to a certain extent by Moshe Dayan, General Eli Zeira (the IDF’s chief intelligence officer) his deputy ,Aryeh Shalev, and King Hussein. It is possible sexism played a role but I suspect that wishful thinking and arrogance were the deciding factors.Senior officials were in a feedback loop that reinforced their prejudices and allowed them to ignore changes in the threat environment.
I haven't read this. Where can I find it?
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/haaretz-today/2023-11-20/ty-article/.highlight/on-october-7-sexism-in-israels-military-turned-lethal/0000018b-ee5b-ddc3-afdb-fe5b25be0000
https://www.timesofisrael.com/surveillance-soldiers-say-oct-7-warnings-ignored-charge-sexism-played-a-role/
I love the way they ran over the terrorists on the road with their tank!
That was an amazing moment.
I’m so proud of them!
The contrast to UN women, the foaming at the mouth Gretas, the keffiah Nazi hipster morons apologizing for rapists - it’s as if these female soldiers are a different species!
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These young girls as the young boys who are in the IDF are stand-alone kids; fighting a vile enemy in our tiny speck called Eretz Israel. Back home in our diaspora, we are surrounded by entitled young pathetic young people who themselves do not deserve a spot on G-d’s planet. Unfortunately our left leaning - Jew hatred world condones their vile rhetoric. And tjese Jewish kids have more integrity in their hair follicle then the young loud mouth protesters standing with muslim terrorists. They stand for Israel and their Jewish people without complaining or feeling hard done by. The world needs to see true heroes and not the fake garbage Hollywood puts out.
Like x 100
I am so proud of these women for what they took ownership of as fighters for Israel in the tanks.What a historical moment for women in the Israeli army. These women are saving their country and the people in it.They are defending their country and not thinking of the danger to them. Proud of them. Proud of Israel for giving them the opportunity to see the value of women in tanks. Am Israeli Chai.
Never again. You go, Girls, and may He who keeps Israel, He who never slumbers or sleeps, keep you safe.
I very much enjoy your daily posts - especially the recent discussion with the Mark Dubowitz when he apologized for not understanding what was developing and praised you for speaking out. I enjoyed hearing you at Ramah Darom Pesach. My request: please discuss, feature, or mention the Israeli Children's Fund: israelichildrensfund.org Thank you. Edward Zissman edwzissman@gmail.com
Rather depends on the combat role. Israel is in a unique position. She has no choice except to ask EVERY resident to defend their nation. She is nation with a small population with a limited number of males eligible for combat, unlike their adversaries. The role of women in combat positions in Israel is a necessity for survival, not desirability. It is not for most nations.
I’ve shared and gifted your words because as an Israeli in America I know how VITAL this level of clear and concise info is. I dare call it hasbara, but it is. My question is how on earth do I add English captions to things? I’m not a tech-moron, nor a tech-genius. I’m happy to add the text myself on countless tv news articles etc. “Is there an app for that”? Or do I really just need to post clips and translate in the comments?
I’d love to help in spreading of info for the English-speaking world, so before I google, I thought to ask here, as a humble but loyal follower/sharer: how am I to share media in Hebrew with English or Farsi (my husband & his family) subtitles??!
I just wish the haredim could see that video, but they don't watch television...maybe that's why. If they did, maybe they'd start to question their outlook on life...
No we wouldn't, because our outlook is based on Divine principles, not on flashy, short-sighted claims of some "practical" advantage from working against basic human nature.
What Divine principle prevents women from serving in the army/combat?