God's Chosen Girls

When you think of the Israeli Defense Force what comes to mind? Maybe you think of Uzi sub-machine guns, or possibly the mighty Israeli Air Force. You might even envision the tactical brilliance of the Six-Day War. But do you think about sexy swimsuits models?

Thank you MAXIM

Well if you do think swimsuits then chances are you might have seen the “Girls of the Israeli Defense Forces” issue of MAXIM magazine from this last July. The girls, all former IDF soldiers, appeared in the sexy spread as part of a Ministry of Tourism initiative to give Israel a more sex-charged appeal. The sex appeal tactic attracts the attention of many but, of course, not everyone is as enthusiastic about the bikini clad Jews as the targeted demographic of men age 18-38. “It’s unfortunate that the Israeli consulate chose to emphasize Israel’s relevance with a portrait of a half-naked woman, instead of one of women of substance and accomplishments.” Said MK Zahava Gal-On, chairwoman of Meretz.

Thank you Israeli  Ministry of Tourism

Whether or not the MAXIM issue helps or hurts Israel's image abroad, at home the female Israeli's image is shifting, sexy bikini body or not. An article from JewishPost.com reports that last September marked a big change for female Israelis. A special committee was put together to redefine the role of the woman in Israel’s armed forces. The committee announced that “no units would be barred from women serving in the IDF—including combat duty.” The committee wants to create “a greater armed force based on individual capabilities, rather than gender.” The plan will be implemented over the next five years.

This change may come as a shock to some, but indeed women have been serving in Israel’s military since the very beginning. During the 1948 War of Independence women engaged in full combat. Since then; “Lt. Roni Zuckerman became the first woman to reach the status of fighter pilot in 2001”, “ Ornah Barbiai became the first female head of an IDF Corps, and was granted rank of Brigadier General in 2005, and “since the second intifada 70 percent of new female recruits say they wan to  serve in combat units.”(Rosenthal. 62)

These changes, like the sex-fueled MAXIM spread, have stirred up much passion on both sides.

The main opposition of the new laws are Israel's Orthodox Jewish population, a group that makes up roughly 50 percent of Israelis military. “MK Rabbi Yitzchak Levy, of the National Union party, has petitioned that the IDF reject such recommendations of integration “enabling observant soldiers to serve in the army without violating their religious principles.”

What the future holds for Israel can only be speculated, the present, on the other hand, can been seen now through the lens of a camera belonging to Rachel Papo of Serial No. 3817131. Rachel served the IDF form age 18 as a camerawoman, and now that her service is finished she has taken it upon herself to document the transition of the Israeli girls transition “from girl to woman, teenager to adult” amongst “a complexity of emotions”.  The depiction of the Israeli girl as sexy is true. The depiction of the Israeli girl as a fighter is true. But most importantly, the depiction of the Israeli girl as human, with strengths, weaknesses, and emotions like any girl any where in the world is most true of all.

A Serial No. 3817131 girl

The article from JewishPost.com was written by Julie A. Sergel. In the article, Sergel does a good job of relaying many facts to give a well rounded account of the issues affecting the image of women in Israel. After giving strong arguments on both sides, in the last paragraph does she subtly slips her agenda into the article. Sergel's calls the beauty of the truthful, personal reality of the Serial No. 3817131 project “incongruent with the tourism campaign offered by the men’s magazine.”

However she may disagree, Sergel does an excellent job of producing an eye-catching, interesting, and educating article that leaves me feeling satisfied and well informed. 





Below is a CNN report on the IDF Girls MAXIM issue.