page_title: Women in the Israel Defense Forces
section_title: Combat roles
hierarchical_section_title: Women in the Israel Defense Forces / Combat roles
caption_attribution_description: IDF medic Anastasia Bagdalov was a passenger on a civilian bus on the Israel-Egypt border last August when terrorists opened fire on it. Begdlov treated injured passengers immediately, improvising with whatever supplies she could reach. She used her bra as a tourniquet on a severely wounded man's knee, saving his life. Today, the IDF rewarded her with a military decoration. Begdlov is currently a cadet in officers' course.
context_page_description: The women in the Israel Defense Forces are female soldiers who serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Israel is one of only a few countries in the world with a mandatory military service requirement for women.
  According to the IDF, 535 female Israeli soldiers had been killed in combat operations between the period 1962-2016. Women have taken part in Israel’s military before and since the founding of the state in 1948, fulfilling various roles within the Ground, Naval and Air Forces. The 2000 Equality amendment to the Military Service law states that "The right of women to serve in any role in the IDF is equal to the right of men."
  Up until 2001, women conscripts served in the Women's Corps, commonly known by its Hebrew acronym, CHEN. After a five-week period of basic training they served as clerks, drivers, welfare workers, nurses, radio operators, flight controllers, ordnance personnel, and course instructors. As of 2011, 88% of all roles in the IDF are open to female candidates, while women can be found in 69% of all positions.
  In 2014, the IDF said that fewer than 4 percent of women are in combat positions such as infantry, tank crews, artillery guns service, fighter pilots, etc.
context_section_description: Clause 16A of the military service law requires that female combat soldiers serve 2 years and 4 months of mandatory service, and continue in reserves service up to age 38. Each year, 1,500 female soldiers are drafted into the IDF. Women were employed in full combat roles during the War of Independence and early years. An incident involving the abuse of a woman's corpse led to their withdrawal from full combat until 2000, when the Caracal Battalion was raised.
  In 2014, the IDF appointed Major Oshrat Bacher as Israel’s first female combat battalion commander.
  The most notable combat option for women is the Caracal Battalion, which is a light infantry force that is made up of 70 percent female soldiers. The unit undergoes combat infantry training. There are two other mixed-sex infantry battalions: the Lions of Jordan Battalion and the Bardelas Battalion. The IDF commando K9 unit, Oketz, also drafts females as combat soldiers. Women are also allowed to join the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps, and to serve as search and rescue personnel in the IDF Home Front Command's Search and Rescue Force, officially classified as a combat unit. Women are allowed to serve as tank crews in the Border Defense Array, in units guarding the Egyptian and Jordanian borders.
  Despite being officially classified as combat soldiers, women in combat roles are not deliberately deployed into combat situations. They are expected to respond in the event a combat situation does erupt, but are not deployed to situations where there is a high risk of combat. The three mixed-sex infantry battalions and female-crewed tanks are deployed to border patrol duties on the Israeli borders with Egypt and Jordan and security duties in the Jordan Valley, and female soldiers are barred from joining the frontline combat brigades which are deployed in the event of war.
caption: Anastasia Bagdalov, awarded a military commendation for her role during the 2011 Sinai attacks. A passenger on the bus, she used her T-shirt and another passenger's bra[27] as tourniquets to save the life of a severely wounded soldier.
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