British-born IDF soldier to be one of Israel’s first ever female tank commanders

A young Jewish woman born and raised in Britain is to become one of the Israel’s first ever female tank commanders after passing a gruelling new combat course.

Charlotte Feld-Davidovici, 20, who lives in Tel Aviv, is one of only four women to pass the Israel Defence Force’s special pilot programme of the 460th Brigade and used the opportunity to urge the IDF to give more responsibility to women.

Feld-Davidovici, who attended JFS, saw five colleagues drop out of the course before it finished, is now lined up to take the senior frontline combat role within the Armored Corps of the Border Defense Array. It is the first time the role has been offered to women.

The programme comprised five weeks of assessment and selection followed by eight weeks of basic infantry training, six weeks of training in specific roles then a further 16 weeks of advanced training, ending with a ‘war week’ including fire, navigation, urban warfare training and tank commander exams.

The training was described by the IDF as “identical to that of male combat soldiers with only small changes to their routine activity” and “a success both from the instructional and the operational perspectives… The soldiers achieved all the goals set for them”.

Feld-Davidovici began her combat training in the Karakal Battalion, one of the Border Force units, after she moved to Israel from UK two years ago, but said she struggled with language due to the large amount of information that was taught in Hebrew.

“My motivation is high because I moved to Israel in order to serve in the IDF and I chose to be a combat soldier,” she said. “I believe that the IDF should give greater responsibility to women in all fields, even though they are physically different than men.”

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