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Army Girls Of Israeli Defense Forces
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Uniquely among nations, Israel conscripts women and assigns some drafted women to infantry combatant service which places them directly in the line of enemy fire. However, approximately one third of female conscripts (more than double the figure for men) are exempted, mainly for religious and nuptial reasons.
Following their active service, women, like men, have, in theory, to serve up to one month annually in reserve duty. However, in practice only some women get called for active reserve, and only for a few years following their active service, with many exit points (e.g., pregnancy).
Apart from during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when manpower shortages saw many women taking active part in land battles, women were historically barred from battle in the IDF, serving in a variety of technical and administrative support roles. IDF commanders have historically considered the practice of assigning women to combatant duties to be immoral due to the heightened danger of sexual assault that female soldiers would face if captured by the enemy:
Soon after the establishment of the IDF, the removal of all women from front-line positions was decreed. Decisive for this decision was the very real possibility of falling into enemy hands as prisoners of war. It was fair and equitable, it was argued, to demand from women equal sacrifice and risk; but the risk for women prisoners of rape and sexual molestation was infinitely greater than the same risk for men.
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