ABSTRACT
The extensive literature on the Israeli military only occasionally acknowledges women’s presence with a passing reference to the exceptional fact that women are conscripted.1 Women, however, con stitute almost a third of the conscripts and 14 percent of the stand ing army (Liberman 1995). In 1999, the military conscripted 80 per cent of the cohort of 18-year-old men and 62 percent of the cohort of 18-year-old women (Harel 1999c).2 Studies of the military in other countries have revealed that gender dynamics are a major force in constructing the military, both in the historical creation of military structures and in contemporary policies and practices (see Elshtain 1995; Enloe 1983; Yuval-Davis 1997). This chapter analyzes the gender dynamics that shape contemporary policies and practices of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
