When the Uniform Comes Off, Power Remains

Three young women showed up for their final discharge day from the IDF in civilian clothes: a tank top, a short skirt, a crop top. Moments earlier, they had cut their military ID cards, standing on the threshold between service and civilian freedom. A few minutes later, they were court-martialed and roughly a third of their final pay was docked for “inappropriate dress.” Their mothers called it repulsive and humiliating. The IDF described the case as a “deviation from orders.”

Even if it was a deviation, it was not without meaning.

The real scandal is not the clothes. It is the jurisdiction. These women had completed their mandatory service, risking their bodies for the Jewish state. And yet the institution still assumed it had the right to police their bodies one final time. The uniform came off, but the control did not.

That single moment exposes a deeper rot: a state that demands women’s sacrifice, bodily risk, and full legitimacy in combat roles, while still hesitating to grant them full autonomy the moment they return to civilian life.

Just days earlier, Israel’s High Court had ordered the IDF to begin a pilot program opening tank crews to women by November 2026, affirming the legal obligation to provide equal opportunities in combat roles “to the extent possible.” Women are now expected to bear the full burden of military citizenship, including its most demanding and dangerous forms. But when they appear in civilian clothes with bare shoulders or legs, some commanders still reach for military punishment. The message is unmistakable: your body belongs to the collective, especially........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)