The American military and the Israeli military have one thing in common, both defense forces admit female soldiers to serve and defend their respective countries. The defensive forces in America and those of Israel operate on an almost similar basis. However, the manner in which these forces operate with female soldiers is very different. Despite a few similarities in the requirements, nature of work and rules of working, the female soldiers in American and Israeli forces are totally different entities.
The similarities between the women soldiers in the American and Israeli forces are not as many as the differences. The most obvious similarity is that women in both military forces are barred from assuming the top military jobs. Initially, the Israeli military could not allow women to occupy any advanced position in the military. Women were mainly given lowly positions such as infantry instructors in the Israeli Defense Force. This was until 2001 when a female military officer went to court to seek a change of law to allow women to assume top positions such as fighter pilots and other big slots in the army. This led to a change of law that now allows female soldiers in the Israeli army to occupy at least 90% of the positions in the army. In the United States, this started much earlier. In 1974, women were being assigned top slots in the American army such as engineers, doctors and nurses. Despite the women being allowed to take up top military positions in the defense forces of both nations, it is clear that women are not allowed to assume top most positions such as the leader of the navy, air force or the head of the armed forces.
The other similarity between the female soldiers in the defense forces of Israel and America is that they face similar challenges. Just as expected, the number of females in the army of the two countries is less than that of the males. The females face challenges both at work and when interacting with the males. Both countries have been recording a good number of rape cases. This is despite the fact that both countries passed necessary laws that would protect the female soldiers’ rights. Other challenges faced include poor working conditions for those soldiers who go out on defensive duties. The females in both nations are however, given proper medical attention and are usually allowed to defer when pregnant or when committed to valid issues such as religion.
The differences between the female soldiers in the American and Israeli militaries are distinct and can be easily noted through the differently structured armies. In America, the defensive duties are voluntary and open to those who are willing to join. Therefore, individuals who work in the American army join the army voluntarily either because of their passion or patriotism that they chose a military career. Therefore, all the female soldiers in the American military are professionals who willingly joined the army as their career of choice. However, this is the total opposite in the Israeli Defense Force. The Israeli laws require that every citizen serve in the army at some point in their lives. This law does not exempt women. Only Israelis of Arab origin and those women who serve or believe in religious positions are exempted. The women have to serve in the army for a period of between 21 and 24 months. Therefore, the Israeli army women are not necessarily permanent military officers; some are just doing the routine law requirement of serving in the military. Israel is the only western nation that obligates women to serve in the national army.
The other difference could be related to the first reason. The American female soldiers are actually more professional compared to their Israeli counterparts. Observations made are that the United States female soldiers dress properly, tightly tie their hair backwards and do not put on makeup and other casual wears. However, the Israeli female soldiers have been spotted in sandals, leaving their hair hanging and coloring their nails among others. This is a big difference in professionalism worth noting. It can be attributed to the fact that the most of the Israeli female soldiers are brought into the force at the tender age of 18. More so, not all those who are brought into the force at that age are destined to be career soldiers. Those who are dropped from the forces also remain allied to the forces which make the level of professionalism to be slightly lower. The difference in professionalism could also be attributed to the fact that the United States soldiers are at least college graduates who are trained before joining the army. On the other hand, the Israeli soldiers are drafted into the army immediately after they are through with school hence; they are a little bit immature and will tend to be less professional.
Another very big difference between the American and the Israeli female military officers is sexuality. In the Israeli military, females are allowed to be in the defense forces regardless of their sexuality. This means that the lesbians and gays can serve in the military; more so, they can openly reveal their sexuality. This is the total opposite for the American military force where the female and even male military officers do not reveal their sexuality publicly. In the United States, it is considered to make other soldiers uncomfortable, especially those who are not gay. Due to the impact of making other soldiers uneasy, revealing sexuality in the forces is prohibited. Soldiers just serve without openly or publicly admitting to be gay. The Israelis do not seem to put that into consideration and allow their soldiers to serve even after publicly being known to be gay.
The American military has in the past undertaken necessary laws to allow women to take high positions such as military trainers, artillery officers and flight pilots. This was as long as in 1974 when the United States congress passed laws that would allow women to effectively take part in defending the nation. Therefore, the role of women in the United States military started long ago and is well defined and established. This is very different for the Israeli Defense Force. Even though women were in the military before the establishment of the Israeli nation in 1948, they were not allowed to be in the army thereafter. Later on, when the law was amended to allow for compulsory military service, women were drafted into the Israeli army. However, they were only allowed to assume very junior posts. This was the case until 1994 when a female pilot, Ms, Miller went to court to be allowed to be an air force pilot. That was the start of reforms in the Israeli Defense Force. Women currently have started assuming big military posts. However, there are still restrictions that bar women from assuming certain posts in the Israeli Defense Force. These include the combatant posts, where very few women have been allowed to serve to date.
Therefore, it is fair to conclude that the female participation in the United States army is well defined and better established. This is based on the past reforms that took place years back and the senior positions occupied by women in the U.S army today. The level of professionalism as well as the rules and regulations in the American military stand out to be better than the Israeli ones. On the other hand, the Israeli army is less established in terms of women’s participation. This is because of the laws that came into force not long ago to allow women to occupy senior military positions. Furthermore, very few women have risen through the ranks of the Israeli military. The Israeli military also has a low professionalism level compared to their American counterparts .
The American women in the military are a cosmopolitan contingent. The United States army recruits its soldiers from all people who are American citizens. This makes all American citizens of all races and origin to have equal opportunity to join the United States military. For this reason, the American women in the military include the red Indians, Americans of European origin, the Americans of Asian origin, Americans of African origin and to some extent there are Israelites. These female military soldiers in the American army make it unique, not only form the Israeli military but many other nations. The Israeli women in the Israeli Defense Force, on the other hand, are more or less of Israeli origin. The Israel laws require that every Israeli citizen must at some point in their life serve in the National army. However, those who are not of Israelite origin can only choose to serve in the army on their own will; they are not obliged to serve. This mostly is aimed at the Israelite citizens of Arab origin who are always under no obligation to serve in the military. As small as Israel is, it does not have the cosmopolitan wealth that the United States has.
The women in the United States military tend to act very cool and respect their own rules of their military. This is in relation to the rules and military requirements of the United States army. On the other hand, women in the Israeli Defense Forces have the bad reputation of being impulsive, ruthless, obliterating and using excessive force when they are on duty or under attack. They are generally over reactive making them have a negative reputation. This trait not only applies to the women but also men. This is one of the traits that makes the United States army stand out as the best trained and disciplined as compared to the Israeli and the other countries military forces.
The Israeli women in the military are known to be more intelligent compared to their American counterparts. The American military is said to have the best satellites to spy for intelligence information. However, the Israeli military has the best human spies in the world. The Israeli women in the military are mostly Jews who are very passionate and loyal to their country. They adhere to their country’s instructions and usually manage to find the information they want. This is one of the few areas where the Israeli Defense Force beats the United States military.
The women in the Israel army are also quick learners and have excellent skills compared to their American counterparts. This is because the Israeli Defense Force recruits all their women and men soldiers at their tender ages. They are recruited straight from school and have ample time to master all the necessary skill and expertise of working in the military. The American women in the military join the military at a later age, most join after finishing college. This means they do their military training when they are already professionals in a different field. This has even sparked a debate on which of the two forces have the superior military capabilities in terms of skill and intelligence. However, this is hard to tell because both forces work hand in hand. On a general comparison between the women in the American and Israeli armies, the American women have more strong points compared to their Israeli counterparts. This does not mean in any way that the Israeli Defense Force is inferior to the American military.
References
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Malešević, Siniša. The Sociology of War and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Skaine, Rosemarie. Women in Combat: A Reference Handbook. New York: ABC-CLIO, 2011.
Stiehm, Judith. It's Our Military, Too!: Women and the U.S. Military. illustrated. new York: Temple University Press, 1996.
Zeigler, Sara L and Gregory G Gunderson. Moving Beyond G.i. Jane: Women And The U.s. Military. illustrated. New York: University Press of America, 2005.
