IDF Artillery Corps opens its elite Moran, Meitar and Skyrider units to women for the first time • Military adjusts physical aptitude tests and regulations to enable women to enter units • The women will be required to serve three years instead of two.

The first six women to serve in IDF Artillery Corps elite units

The Israel Defense Forces Artillery Corps has opened its elite units to female soldiers for the first time.

Six women from last August’s draft class passed the physical aptitude tests that allow them to join the elite Moran, Meitar and Skyrider units, part of the Artillery Corps’ David’s Sling Formation.

The women headed for these units must commit to three years of military service, the same term that men serve, as opposed to the two-year term normally required of women. They were drafted two weeks before their male counterparts and given special training to prepare them for the physical aptitude tests.

According to Artillery Corps base commander Col. Yuval Ben-Dov, the military’s combat fitness department adapted the physical standards required for the elite units to make them suitable for women. As a result, the men in those units will be required to meet the same standards, rather than more rigorous ones. Military regulations were also adjusted to enable the entry of women into the units.

“If, for example, women are required to have seven hours of sleep [according to military regulations] and men are required to have six hours, everyone will get seven hours of sleep,” Ben-Dov said.

The Meitar and Moran units operate precision-guided munitions, such as the Tamuz missile.

“There are jobs in these units that require good physical fitness, and there are those that do not,” Ben-Dov said. “The majority of the jobs require strong mental fitness, and for that, there is no difference between women and men.”

Israel Hayom previously reported on a 64 percent rise in women taking on combat roles in the IDF over the previous year. The IDF has since looked into integrating women into the Artillery Corps, the Armored Corps, and the Combat Engineering Corps, as well as establishing a new combat battalion for men and women.

See hundreds of pictures of Israeli female soldiers here https://www.solveisraelsproblems.com/women-in-the-israel-defense-forces/