Israel to integrate female tank commanders into Army

Israel is set to integrate female tank commanders into the country's Army after they completed a pilot training course on Thursday to perform defensive missions at the border.

The head of command training Lt. Col. Benny Aharon told the press that Israel started the training in April 2017, Efe news reported.

Aharon stressed that the Army will not have mixed teams of men and women in the same tanks presently. One of the commanders-to-be Noga Shina explained that being in the tank forces will open new job opportunities for women.

"The purpose of this pilot programme was to examine whether and how women can be integrated as combat tank commanders in the Armoured Corps within the Border Defence Array," the Army statement read.

"The pilot integration programme... ended successfully," the Army said, without elaborating on whether additional programmes will be opened.

The results of the programme will be presented within the next few weeks to the military's commanders who will decide how to integrate the new graduates.

One of the future tank commanders, Charlotte Davivowitcz-Peled, 20-year-old from Tel Aviv, said in the statement that she believes the Army "should give greater responsibility to women in all fields, even though they are physically different from men".

She moved from Britain to Israel two years ago. "My motivation is high because I moved to Israel in order to serve in the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) and I chose to be a combat soldier."

--IANS

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