Women in the Military: Israel and the US

February 17, 2010 · Filed Under Baum's Blog 

CNN has an interesting video posted about women participating fully in the Israeli army (I’ve included it at the end of this blog entry).  It’s a great piece – and I admire all soldiers – male and female – who fight to protect their nation’s citizens.  In Israel, all young adults join the army – it is a different world than I grew up with and I admire Israelis for what they do.  When I lived in Israel for a year, it took some getting used to – seeing soldiers and their guns almost everywhere we went.  This photo taken by my friend Barbara shows just how much soldiers and their guns were everywhere… even McDonald’s!

Israeli Soldiers at McDonalds

There is a nice opinion piece in today’s New York Times in which Catherine Ross argues that women should be able to participate fully in the US military (like they do in Israel).  Like Ross, I believe all people who are physically able should be allowed to serve; gender should not matter.

Speaking of being able to serve… Hopefully, the US government will soon overturn “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policies.  In an op-ed piece on this subject Rabbi Steven Wernick explains that Israel has always included gay men and lesbians in the military.  I hope that the US will follow Israel’s lead and allow women and homosexuals to participate fully in the military – no differently than straight men.

The CNN video ends by saying “some rabbis believe women and the army don’t mix.”  This rabbi thinks they do.


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One Response to “Women in the Military: Israel and the US”

  1. Rob Isenberg Says:
    April 15th, 2010 at 12:46 pm

    My Mother enlisted two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. As soon as the Army of the U.S. was formed “A.U.S.”, Mom was called to duty at Fort Dix, N.J. She entered the Army Nurse Corp as a 2nd Lt. She was pivot and called cadence for her outfit and as a natural leader was soon promoted to 1stLt. Her outfit was ready to shipout to Leiage, Belgeum however at the final physical the Dr. discovered a rapidly growing Thyroid. It was removed, totaly and after a brief R&R it was back to duty. She served on a P.O.W. ward as well as treating our own. However there was no recognition for serving in direct contact5 with the enemy! Her outfit in Leige was Buzz Bombed several times and several of the staff were wounded and killed. I’ve yet to see a movie about them although I did stop at Fort Lee to see the Woman’s Military Museum. Sadly they were closed on Monday.
    Of my Grandmother’s four children both sons were in active duty, Mom was a nurse and my aunt was a dietician with the U.S.O. Uncle Sid was decorated for Service as a Signalman at the Battle at Midway. As a sole survivor at his position he remained on the radio for 70 hours reporting throughout the Battle. Then he spent two years on an Island with seven natives, a book of silhouets and a radio! My Uncle Leon was in the Air Corp/Force for thirty years. Decorated many times for such service as the Berlin Airlift.
    The Army Base in Miami did make the effort to get an Honor Guard to my Mother’s Funeral in 2004 with a Live Bugler! I was very proud of her service.

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