'Concept of women's combat service is outrageous, weakens the military'

Former GOC Army Headquarters Maj. Gen. (res.) Yiftach Ron-Tal came under fire Sunday after calling the efforts to integrate women in the Artillery Corps "outrageous."

In an interview with the national religious Galey Israel radio station, Ron-Tal said such efforts were "driven by interest groups seeking to undermine the military."

The plan to expand the integration of women in combat roles "will undermine everything you can possibly think of, including military operational readiness," he said. "Whoever is promoting this move is simply crazy. ... Have we lost our mind? Next this will happen in the Paratroopers, Golani, Givati and the Nahal," he blasted, referring to some of the IDF's elite combat units.

Ron-Tal, who is currently director of the Israel Electric Corporation, further added that according a recent study he has read, "The people behind this -- it's not women's groups; it's left-wing organizations."

The former GOC came under immediate fire over his remarks and was denounced on social media as "ugly" and "chauvinistic."

MK Haim Jelin (Yesh Atid) criticized Ron-Tal: "Instead of encouraging women who decided to take an important, active role in the defense of this country, the former GOC has decided to discourage them."

Jelin said further urged Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, whose officer oversees the IEC, to demand Ron-Tal retracts his statement.

Later on Sunday, Ron-Tal took to Facebook to shed more light on his comments.

"I wish to clarify my position regarding the planned expansion of women's [IDF] service in the Artillery Corps. While I indeed oppose it, by virtue of my experience in the IDF and my understanding of the issue as a whole, I sincerely apologize if what I said was construed as suggesting left-wing organizations are behind the move, with the aim of undermining the military," he wrote. "I am wholeheartedly convinced these organizations want only what is best for the IDF and for Israel's security."

The military's plans to advance gender integration in combat roles was also criticized by former commander of the 7th Armored Brigade Brig. Gen. (ret.) Avigdor Kahalani, who made equally controversial remarks during a Galey Israel interview Monday.

"The trauma of battle will change women completely. ... A woman's role is to be a mother and have children. ... If a woman went through even a fraction of what I did, it would change her completely," he said, adding he believed "such trauma would undermine the maternal instinct."

Former Chief Military Rabbi Israel Weiss expressed concern about "other things that may develop" in mixed units.

Speaking with the national religious radio station, Weiss said the IDF's gender integration plan "sounds delusional in every way. We can't put two people, a man and a woman, in such close quarters for a week and expect nothing else to develop. I'm telling you -- you put them there [in a tank], and in nine months we'll have another little soldier on our hands."

Meanwhile, the Artillery Corps on Sunday named its first female battalion commander.

Maj. Reut is only the second woman in the Israel Defense Forces' history to command a combat unit. She will command the Sky Rider Unit, the corps' elite drone unit.

Lt. Col. Oshrat Bachar, the IDF's first female combat unit commander was given her commission in 2014. She recently concluded her command of a combat intelligence gathering battalion in southern Israel.

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