Oy! Gay?

IDF Soldiers

            The Israeli Defense Force or IDF is known as one of the toughest and most admired armies to be found anywhere in the world. Unlike the volunteer army of the United States, military service in Israel is compulsory for all non-Arab citizens (with some religious exemptions). Also unlike the United States which has been grappling with its “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, Israel has had, since 1993 a far different policy. In Donna Rosenthal’s The Israelis, the author explains that “since the Israeli Supreme Court decriminalized sodomy in 1988, justices have approved some of the world’s most progressive gay rights legislation” (371).  Since 1993, it was decreed that all gay soldiers were to be treated equally and that no officer could ask a soldier about their sexual orientation. Rosenthal goes on to mention the fact that there are dozens of high-ranking gay officers in the IDF.

            While this sounds very progressive, one must wonder how the IDF and its leaders who are known for their formidability actually feel about it and what is the actual behavior towards gays.  A former female soldier is quoted as saying “If Israel is machismo, than the army is Machismo on steroids” (Rosenthal, 348).  Does the reality match the hype?  Is the IDF one big happy family?

Not exactly.

While discrimination based on sexual orientation is illegal in Israel, according to an article in Haaretz, “More than 40 percent of gay and lesbian soldiers in the IDF were sexually harassed during their time in the military” the article goes on to say that of those surveyed 45% said that “homophobic remarks are very frequent …soldiers serving in combat units reported such remarks more frequently- 59%”. The report referenced in the article was a study done in 2011 by the Israel Gay Youth organization and it was based on a sampling of 364 gay and lesbian soldiers who were either currently serving in the IDF or who had been discharged within the year.  The study did go on to say , however, that the IDF had in recent years acted extensively to improve conditions for gay soldiers serving in the military  and to increase their commanders awareness of the conditions involved.

Many former soldiers have made their personal experiences known on various websites.  On the NewJersey Jewish News website, bureau Chief Debra Rubin quotes Avner Even-Zohar, a decorated former IDF captain who spoke about being openly gay in the Israeli military.  “Even-Zohar kept his own sexual orientation mostly to himself during his six-year stint in the IDF, which ended in 1993 just as the new rules took effect. Previously, officers were often demoted if their homosexual preferences became known.” Even-Zohar, who today chairs Turkish and Hebrew studies at the United States’ Department of Defense Language Institute, says that the Israeli military of today is much more accepting of gays.

            An example of this is the personal account of Tomar Azaria, who was a gay combat soldier. Reported in the Huffington Post, Azaria said that during his initial obligatory three years’ service there was “a homophobic atmosphere in his unit”. Now that he is a reserve soldier though, it is much easier because “his comrades accept and respect him”.

From the online version of Moment Magazine which bills itself as “Independent Journalism from a Jewish Perspective”, an Opinion piece from Yoav Sivan describing his experiences in the IDF comes across as fairly positive. Sivan gives background on how the Israeli military policy came about which mirrors what author Donna Rosenthal said in her book. He adds the interesting detail that while gays were allowed to serve beginning in 1983, they were required to undergo psychiatric evaluations and were denied security clearances. He also states that these rules were implemented in an arbitrary and inconsistent manner.

Sivan makes the excellent point that the speed with which the policy was changed in the Israeli military shows that the “constantly embattled Israelis feel as if they have bigger fish to fry then squabbling over gays in the military".  He also says that the speed of the change can also be linked to the make-up of the military. While service is compulsory, the Ultra-Orthodox and Arab Israelis are exempt from the draft, so “progressives may be over-represented”.Sivan goes on to say that he did not come “out” until his IDF service (between 1998 -2001). He said that once he became an officer in the navy headquarters his “peers, friends and even commanders helped me gradually step out of the closet”.

The 2002 film Yossi and Jagger which was a love story between two male soldiers helped the IDF’s reputation for diversity according to Sivan.

However, Sivan admits that Israel’s progress is not perfect. And this seems to be what becomes apparent when one searches the web for information regarding this topic. While great strides have been made, and the IDF is far ahead of the US military in its treatment of gays, he states that “homophobia and discrimination are still a challenge”.  The information presented in this post seems to come from reliable sources that are honestly describing personal experiences of individual soldiers. The accounts seem credible as most contain both positive and negative elements and seem to all point at a fairly similar experience. As time has gone by since the policy of the IDF was changed at the urging of Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Rosenthal, 371), conditions for gays in the military seem to be steadily improving.

As Israel seems to be under an almost constant state of threat, and since neighboring Arab nations still call for its destruction, it does indeed seem that the IDF has “bigger fish to fry” than worrying about gays serving in its ranks. While more work appears to be necessary, the IDF seems light years ahead of other military organizations in their treatment and integration of gays into the armed forces.