MIDDLE EAST: Israeli army says soldiers' sexual preference is a "non issue"

Record ID: 277288

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Israeli army says soldiers' sexual preference is a "non issue"
  • Date: 19th May 2010
  • Summary: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) ISRAELI SOLDIERS CROSSING CROWDED ROAD ISRAELI SOLDIER WALKING WITH GUN / MORE OF SOLDIERS WALKING IN STREET TWO ISRAELI FEMALE SOLDIERS STANDING IN STREET, TALKING JERUSALEM (RECENT) (REUTERS) ISRAELI ARMY SPOKESWOMAN LIEUTENANT COLONEL AVITAL LEIBOVICH TALKING TO REPORTER MORE OF LEIBOVICH TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI
  • Embargoed: 3rd June 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA1NPGO8GNERLTAJBTYYE2UVK3I
  • Story Text: Gay soldiers around the world often hide their sexual preference fearing it will not be accepted in the military.
    But in the Israeli army, says Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich, it is a "non issue".
    "The IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) is totally open to different races, sexes and sexual preferences. The lesbian, gay issue is a non-issue in the IDF. We welcome everyone to serve in the IDF without relevance of his sexual preference," Leibovich, a military spokeswoman, told Reuters Television in Jerusalem.
    In Israel, all 18-year-olds are drafted into the military, women for two years and men for three years. Leibovitch acknowledged that while in most cases the issue is irrelevant, there are rare cases of unfair treatment against gays.
    "You can find in the IDF gays, lesbians, serving in all units. The soldiers are treating them just as other soldiers, in most cases," she said.
    For Lieutenant Colonel Michal Tuk-Harpaz, a lesbian officer in the army's education corps, being gay in the military never caused any specific problems.
    "From the moment I decided to live outside the closet, share this with my commanders and live openly, I never encountered any discriminatory behaviour from commanders," Harpaz said.
    The Lieutenant Colonel added that in this respect, the Israeli army was ahead of Israeli society.
    "In most of its processes, the IDF is a mirror of the Israeli society, also in other areas. In this area, and also in other social areas, the IDF is two steps ahead of the Israeli society. Because when one needs to get a special permit to take one's female partner on vacation, the IDF quickly makes it a non-issue and if there's any problem the army finds a way to solve it. When there's a need to acknowledge such a family (same sex family) since the state does not acknowledge it, the army will find a way to let you be acknowledged as a family and get all your rights as a family," she said.
    Tuk-Harpaz serves in a non-combat unit, where individuals are allowed more privacy and many soldiers spend nights at home. Soldiers in combat units who spend weeks on base together, however, may face different situations. No combat soldiers were available for comment.
    Tuk-Harpaz noted that the army holds special sessions about the issue of gays in the military during its officers training course.
    Israeli gay teenagers who are destined to join the army also have guidance available to them.
    Dudu Gotlib from the Israeli Gay Youth Organisation told Reuters that activities are held in cooperation with the military to help deal with gay teenagers' concerns about recruitment.
    "We give them (gay youth) knowledge, knowledge is power. So that Israeli gay youth know that the army, the Israeli army is the most accepting in the world about that specific subject. Once they know that, it's a lot more easier to ask the questions, ask yourself 'will I be a part of it' and overall thinking that that structure will take care of you," Gotlib said.
    Ronny Klein, a 16-year old lesbian who participates in the Gay Youth Organisation activities, said she wanted to join the army and didn't fear her sexual preference would be an issue.
    "I want to enrol in the army and I want to get ahead in the army, because I feel it can help me with a job later on, it can give me some experience that I don't get right now, new information that I don't know...I don't really fear about it. I believe that if somebody doesn't want to get to know me just because I'm gay, than I don't need to know him," Klein said.
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