Israeli army to train women longer
The period of pre-service military training is to be increased for women in the Israeli army, while their male counterparts will need to train less.
Female recruits would see their training period extended from three to four weeks to allow them to familiarise themselves with automatic weapons, according to a reform planned by the military command, military sources said on Wednesday.
The plan should also herald the entry of women into several elite units usually reserved for men. The reform would put women on an equal footing with men, whose training stint non-combat units would be reduced to one month, the sources said.
In October, two women serving in the Israeli army were killed in a resistance attack against a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. One of them was not carrying a weapon.