Female Service in the IDF: The Challenge of an 'Integrated' Army

The state of Israel has also been grappling in recent years with an intense controversy over the service of women in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The dispute recently came to a boiling point with the amendment of the “Joint Service Order,” which sets out guidelines for women’s military service alongside Orthodox men who observe, inter alia, religious restrictions on interacting with their female fellow-soldiers.