Homsexuality and Israel Defense Forces

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Homosexuality and the Israel

Defense Forces Did Lifting

the ay Ban Undermine

Military Performance?

AARON BELKIN AND MELISSA LEVITT

A

S the number of countries that permit gay and lesbian soldiers to

serve in the armed forces has grown over the past two decades, it

has become increasingly important to determine whether official deci-

sions to include homosexual service members in the military lead to

changes in organizational performance. Although most NATO coun-

tries as well as a handful of other nations allow gay and lesbian soldiers

to serve, there has been little empirical analysis of whether the decision

to lift a gay ban influences the armed forces ability to pursue their

missions. Theoretical studies have addressed this topic, but there has

been no in-depth empirical work on the actual consequences of a

decision to lift a gay ban.

Israel is a case in point. A few scholars conducted careful studies in

the immediate aftermath of Israel s 1993 decision to abolish restrictions

on gay and lesbian soldiers. However, the long-term impact of the new

policy was not immediately apparent and even the most thorough of

these early analyses is only eight pages long.^ Our rationale for consid-

AARON BELKIN is an assistant professor in the political science department at the

University of California, Santa Barbara, and Director of the Center for the Study of

Sexual Minorities

in the

Military.

His

research interests include gays

in the

military, civil-

military relations, and social science methodology. He is co-editor of Counterfactual

Thought Experiments in World

Politics

published

by

Princeton University Press

in 1996.

Address or correspondence: Dr. Aaron Belkin, Department of Political Science, Univer-

sity

of

California, Santa Barbara,

CA

93106-9420. E-mail: be\km@SSCF UCSB EDU

MELISSA LEVITT is an adjunct professor of political science at San Francisco State

University. Her research interests include Israeli politics, survey research methods, and

immigration policy. In addition to her scholarly work, Ms. Levitt has conducted research

for both private and public organ izations, including the Center for Urban Research in New

York.

ARMED FORCES SOCIETY, Vol. 27, No.

4,

Summer 2001, pp. 541-565.



542 Armed Forces Society/Summer 2001

ering more recent evidence, accum ulated in the eight years since Israel

lifted its gay ban, is that with its history of over half a century of

continuous military engagement,

the

Israel Defense Forces

IDF) are

considered

to be one of

the premiere fighting forces

in the

world.

The

Israeli case thus affords an opportunity to examine the impact of lifting

a gay ban in a high-stakes security context. After discussing the histori-

cal evolution

of

Israel's homosexual personnel policy,

we

examine

whether

its

decision

to

abolish restrictions

on gay and

lesbian soldiers

influenced military performance, readiness, cohesion, or morale. Fi-

nally, we ask if lessons from the Israeli case may be relevant for

determining whether lifting the Am erican gay ban would undermine the

effectiveness

of the

U.S. armed forces.

Our

findings

are

that Israel's

decision to lift its ban had no impact on performance and that, despite

differences between the two cases, lessons from the Israeli experience

are relevant

for

determining what would happen

if the

U.S. Congress

and Pentagon lifted

the

A merican

gay ban.

Historical ontext

The Israel Defense Forces play

a

central role

in the

daily life

and

identity of the Israeli people.^ Since its founding in 1948, Israel has

fought five major wars, conducted numerous major operations against

hostile neigh bors, and supplied an army

of

occupa tion in the West Bank

and Gaza for more than 30 years. The w ide-ranging and extensive nature

of these operations

has

provided

the IDF

with nearly unparalleled

combat experience. Israelis rely on a strong military to ensure their

safety as citizens and as a nation, and the IDF has been central to the

Israeli sense of mission concerning the renewal of the Jewish hom eland.

Although the prestige

of

the IDF has declined somew hat in recent years

and although it no longer plays as prom inent

a

role in the na tion-building

process as

it

once did, the IDF remains an important institution in Israeli

life and the boundaries between civilian and military culture remain

porous or, according to some views, virtually nonexistent.' *

The IDF acts as an important agent of socialization for Israelis as

well. M ilitary service is mandatory for Jewish men and women at the age

of 18, and

it

provides

a

common experience

for

young Israelis entering

adulthood.

Men

serve

for

three years

and

women

for

just under

two

years. While women

do not

serve

in

combat

and

primarily occupy

support roles,

in

recent years they have gained g reater access

to

a range

of opportunities such as that of elite fighter p ilot training. Once Israelis

complete active duty, men remain in the reserves until they are 55 and



Belkin and Levitt 543

women serve in the reserves until they marry or turn 24. Because Israel

is home to a large number of immigrants and includes people with

diverse cultural, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds, the IDF

still embraces the ideals of a melting pot for many Israeli groups.^

The Israeli military never has formally prohibited service by homo-

sexuals. Because of the personnel demands of a nation continuously at

war, the IDF generally has pursued an officially inclusive conscription

policy. Before 1980, however, known homosexuals usually were dis-

charged . In 1983, the IDF for the first tim e officially spelled out

regulations relating to homosexuality in the Manpower Division Stand-

ing Order K 31-11 -01, Service of Hom osexuals in the ID F. The

regulation stated that homosexuals would not be limited in their posi-

tions or discharged from service solely because of their sexual orienta-

tion. It did, however, prohibit sexual minorities from serving in top

secret and intelligence positions. The order required officers to refer

suspected homosexuals to a mental health evaluation center to deter-

mine whether they were security risks and maintained sufficient men tal

strength and m aturity for military service. Based upon the results of the

evaluation, the Field Security Department could decide to do nothing,

terminate the soldier's service, limit his or her deployment, or conduct

an extensive security investigation. The IDF did not maintain regula-

tions that were specific to homosexual behavior because military codes

prohibited all sexual activity, whether homosexual or heterosexual, on

military base s, as well as sexual relationships between officers and their

subordinates.*

In

1993,

the IDF faced mounting opposition to its restrictive policy in

the wake of the Knesset's first hearings on homosexual issues. Professor

Uzi Even, chairman of Tel Aviv University's Chemistry Department,

created a public sensation when he testified that he had been stripped of

his rank of officer and barred from sensitive IDF research in the 1980s

because of his sexual orientation. Even conducted highly classified

military research for 15 years and was open about his sexual orientation

and therefore not at-risk for blackmail when the IDF revoked his security

clearance.^ His testimony created a public storm— against the military

and for Even. * In response, the IDF issued a statement declaring that it

did not discriminate against gays and lesbians and did not prohibit

homosexuals as a group from sensitive assignments. Prime Minister

Rabin declared, I do n't see any reason

t

discriminate against hom osexu-

als,

and called for a military committee to explore the matter.'

The military committee then drafted amendments to the 1983 order

that officially recogn iz[ed] that hom osexuals are entitled to serve in the



544 Armed Forces

Society/Summer 2001

military as are others and declared that sexual minorities would be

judg ed fit for service accord ing to the criteria in force for all cand idates

for security serv ice. ' The amendm ents also shifted the assump tion of

security risk away from sexual minorities as a group. As a rule,

placem ent or advancement of sexual minorities in the military would not

be restricted. Cases where a possible security risk existed were to be

handled on an individual basis. According to official policy, gay and

lesbian soldiers were to be treated the same as their heterosexual peers.

Effect of roF Inclusion of Sexual Minorities

In order to determine whether Israel's decision to lift its gay ban

undermined military performance, cohesion, readiness, or morale, we

gathered information systematically from six different types of publicly

available Hebrew and English language sources including (1) all pub-

lished scholarly books and journal articles on the topic; (2) interviews

of all known experts on the issue of gays in the Israeli m ilitary (listed in

Appendix 1) from the Defense Ministry, the IDF, Israeli and American

universities and civil rights organizations (n=35); (3) all newspaper

articles and wire service dispatches relating to homosexual service in

the IDF stored in the Lexis/Nexis M iddle East database (1985 -2000; n=

24); (4) all articles on Hebrew University's Internet collection of

newspaper and magazine stories concerning sexual minorities (1993-

2000 ; n=199 ); (5) fourteen Israeli web sites related to gay and lesbian

issues; (6) governm ent docum ents that included tran scripts of Knesset

hearings and military orders relevant to homosexual service in the

IDF.

Although our footnotes do not list citations to most of these

sources, we examined all of them and included the most relevant

references in the article. Certainly it is possible that we missed some

evidence, although we tried to ensure that our universe of sources was

comprehensive. For example, we asked interview subjects repeatedly

to suggest additional experts from different sectors and we contacted

all suggested individuals.

In our search for published evidence in English and in Hebrew we

were unable to find any data indicating that lifting the gay ban under-

mined Israeli military performance, cohesion, readiness, or morale. In

addition, none of the 35 experts we interviewed could recount any

indication that the lifting of the gay ban comprom ised military effective-

ness.

The comments of Professor Stuart Cohen, a professor and senior

research fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan Univer-

sity, who has written extensively on the Israeli military, w ere typical of




our findings: As far as I have been able to tell, hom osexua ls do not

constitute an issue [with respect to] unit cohesion in the

IDF.

In fact, the

entire subject is very marginal indeed as far as this military is con-

ce rne d. In a recent interview for ABC new s, Israeli Brigadier-

General Oded Ben comm ented that Israelis show a great tolerance

with respect to hom osexual so ldiers in the military.'^ Scholars, offi-

cials, NGO observers, and service members interviewed for this report

echoed the theme of tolerance put forward by the brigadier-general.

When asked if she had experienced any problems because of her sexual

orientation, for exam ple, a female soldier who served between 1993 and

1996 stated: I was quite amazed to find ou t that people either thought

that my sexual orientation was 'coo l' or were indifferent to it . Am ir

Fink, the co-author of Independence Park: The Lives of Gay Men in

Israel,

argues that the IDF policy changes, among larger societal

changes, have resulted in a more open attitude in the military: I believe

that... after the 1993 change in regulations there are more soldiers who

are aware of

the

fact that there a re gays in the unit and [that] they should

treat them decently. *

In an October 1999 article on sexual minorities in the military

entitled, Com ing Out of the Kitbag , the IDF newspaper Ba machne

includes comments from seventeen heterosexual soldiers about their

attitudes about having a gay com m and er. W hile the responses do not

constitute a representative sample of heterosexual IDF personnel, they

are consistent with the results of our interviews and literature searches.

Two of the seventeen soldiers (12%) interviewed for the Ba machne

article felt that serving under a homosexual commander would consti-

tute

problem for

them.

One soldier explained that The truth is it would

be a bit strange for me. Not that I am primitive or homophobic, but

among my friends there aren't any gays. I would try to get used to the

idea and if I did not succeed I would request a transfer. I do not think that

gays are less good, but it would be a bit difficult or strange for me . The

rest of the respondents stated that the sexual orientation of their com-

manding officer would not make a difference to them. Ayah provides

one example of this attitude: I respect gays a lot. There is no problem

with their service in the Army. It is none of my business if my

commanding officer is gay. If he has already decided to participate this

does not have to interfere with work...

W hile the question posed about working under a gay comm ander did

not address the issue of showering together specifically, 12 of the

respondents brought up this issue as well. Three soldiers expressed

some concern about showering with a homosexual solider, although




t h e y s t a t e d th a t i n g e n e r a l t h e y d i d n o t h a v e a p r o b l e m w i t h g a y s o l d i e r s .

S e c o n d L i e u t e n a n t G a l i n H u m a n R e s o u r c e s e x p l a i n e d h i s f e e l i n g s : I

d o n ' t h a v e a n y t h i n g a g a i n s t h o m o s e x u a l s i n t h e a r m y . T h e y ' r e c i t i z e n s

o f I s r a e l l i k e y o u a n d m e . T h e s e x u a l o r i e n t a t i o n o f t h e w o r k e r s a r o u n d

m e d o e s n ' t i n t e r e s t m e . I t d o e s i n t e r e s t m e i f h i s o u t p u t s u f f e r s f r o m i t ,

m a y b e if i t b o t h e r s h i m a n d h e n e e d s h e l p . I w o u l d n ' t s h o w e r w i t h h i m .

T h e r e a r e c u b i c l e s h e r e a t [ t h e o f f i c e r ' s t r a i n i n g

b a s e ] .

E i g h t o f t h e

r e s p o n d e n t s s t a te d t h a t t h e y h a v e n o p r o b l e m s s h o w e r i n g w i t h s e x u a l

m i n o r i t i e s . D i m a , a n o f f ic e r , e x p r e s s e d t h e p r e v a i l i n g v i e w o f t h e

r e s p o n d e n t s w h o b r o u g h t u p t h e i s s u e : T h e y ' r e c i t i z e n s o f t h e s t a t e , l i k e

a l l t h e o t h e r c i t i z e n s . I t h i n k t h a t e v e n i f t h e y h a v e a d i f f e r e n t s e x u a l

o r i e n t a t i o n , t h a t d o e s n ' t h a v e a n y t h i n g t o d o w i t h h a t e f u l f e e l i n g s . I

d o n ' t h a v e a p r o b l e m s h o w e r i n g w i t h [ h o m o s e x u a l s ] . I t s e e m s t o m e t h a t

i t w o u l d n ' t b e a p r o b l e m .

N o s t a t i s t i c s h a v e b e e n c o l l e c t e d o n t h e n u m b e r o f i n c i d e n t s o f

h a r a s s m e n t o f k n o w n h o m o s e x u a l s o l d i e r s i n t h e I D F . I n 1 9 9 3 , i n t h e

w a k e of t h e c h a n g e s in I D F p o l i c i e s t o w a r d h o m o s e x u a l s , th e K n e s s e t

e m p a n e l l e d a c o m m i t t e e to i n v e s t i g a t e c o m p l a i n t s o f h a r a s s m e n t . U z i

E v e n , w h o w a s i n v o l v e d i n t h e r e v i e w , s t a t e d t h a t n o n e o f t h e c a s e s h a d

t h e i r r o o t s i n a n t i - g a y b i a s . ' * B r i g a d i e r - G e n e r a l U r i S h o h a m , t h e

m i l i t a r y ' s j u d g e a d v o c a t e g e n e r a l , r e p o r t e d r e c e n t l y t h a t h a r a s s m e n t

b e c a u s e o f s e x u a l o r i e n t a t i o n i s v e r y r a r e a n d t h a t h e c o u l d r e m e m b e r

f e w , i f a n y , c a s e s . H e f u r t h e r s t a t e d t h a t t h a t h e h a d n e v e r h a d t o d e a l

w i t h h a r a s s m e n t a g a i n s t g a y t r o o p s i n h i s c a r e e r a s a m i l i t a r y l a w y e r .

B e c a u s e i n d i v i d u a l c o m m a n d e r s g e n e r a l l y h a n d l e h a r a s s m e n t , h o w -

e v e r , S h o h a m ' s l a c k o f k n o w l e d g e o f s u c h c a s e s d o e s n o t m e a n t h a t

p r o b l e m s h a v e n o t o c c u r r e d . ' ^ F o r e x a m p l e , a f e m a l e o f f i c e r p r e s e n t l y

i n t h e I D F t o l d u s t h a t s h e e x p e r i e n c e d g e n e r a l a c c e p t a n c e f r o m m o s t o f

h e r s u p e r i o r s a n d p e e r s . S h e s a i d t h a t I n t h e u n i t I s e r v e i n I h a v e h e a r d

o f n o d i s c r i m i n a t i o n ( in e i t h e r d i r e c t i o n ) t o w a r d g a y s . S h e a d d e d ,

h o w e v e r , t h a t [ r ] u m o r s ( u s u a l l y f r o m t h e n e w s ) d o s h o w t h e e x i s t e n c e

o f s o m e s u c h p r o b l e m s i n ' c l o s e d u n i t s ' ( [ w ] h e r e o n e l i v e s o n b a s e ) . ' ^

W a l z e r u n c o v e r e d t w o c a s e s o f h a r a s s m e n t of h o m o s e x u a l s o l d i e r s

i n t h e I D F . I n o n e , a f e m a l e f o r m e r s o l d i e r r e c o u n t e d i n 1 9 9 7 h o w t h e

m a l e o f f i c e rs o n h e r b a s e t r i e d t o s l e e p w i t h f e m a l e s o l d i e r s : T h e t h i n g

w a s t h a t a n y g i r l w h o r e f u s e d g o t a r e p u t a t i o n a s a l e s b i a n . A n d t h e w a y

i t w a s p o r t r a y e d w a s v e r y d i r t y . I t ' s t r u e t h a t n o n e o f t h e m w e r e l e s b i a n s ,

b u t t h e r e s p o n s e to t h e m w a s s o h a r s h t h a t I d i d n ' t d a r e s a y a n y t h i n g .

E v e n t h o u g h h e r c o m m a n d e r e v e n t u a l l y d e a l t w i t h t h e p r o b l e m , t h e

h u m i l i a t i n g t r e a t m e n t c o n v i n c e d h e r t o k e e p si l e n t a b o u t h e r o w n s e x u a l

o r i e n t a t i o n . W h e n t o l d o f t h e t w o e x a m p l e s o f h a r a s s m e n t . B r i g a d i e r -




General Shoham replied that if they were the only cases that had come

to light, the military's policy could be considered quite successful. In

light of his research, Walzer believes that vicious harassment of sexual

minorities in the IDF is rare.

The IDF does not conduct any special education or sensitivity

training related to sexual orientation issues. In contrast, the Israeli

military provides training on sexual abuse of women and harassment of

new immigrants and Mizrachim, Israelis of North African or Middle

Eastern origin.^ One board mem ber of Agudaht Zechuyot Ha-ezrach ,

Israel's primary gay-rights group, expressed overall approval of the

military's policies toward sexual minorities but other scholars and

representatives of gay rights groups have declared that the IDF could do

more to address the concerns of sexual mino rities in the military and that

many soldiers are not aware of official policy.^'

The findings that emerged from our interview s and literature searches

are consistent w ith brief reports on the IDF prepared by the

U.S.

General

Accounting Office (GAO) and the RAND corporation in the immediate

aftermath of Israel's 1993 decision to abolish restrictions on gay and

lesbian soldiers.^^ In interviews with embassy and IDF officials, active

and reserve military personnel, scholars, a member of the Knesset, and

personnel from the leading homosexual rights and civil rights groups in

Israel, RAND and GAO researchers found that Israel's long-standing

informal inclusion of homosexuals in the military had neither created

internal problems nor jeopa rdized combat units. Officials interviewed

for the GAO report stated that homosexual soldiers performed as well

as heterosexual soldiers. Based on the officials' expe rience, hom o-

sexual soldiers had not adversely affected unit readiness, effective-

ness,

cohesion, or morale. ^^ Security personnel noted that hom osexual

soldiers were able to hold security clearances without posing an unnec-

essary security risk. Ga l, the director of the Israeli Institute for M ilitary

Studies, affirmed the findings of

th

GAO and RAND studies: Accord-

ing to military reports, [homosexuals'] presence, whether openly or

clandestinely, has not impaired the morale, cohesion, readiness, or

security of any unit. Perhaps the best indication of this overall perspec-

tive is the relative smoothness with which the most recent June 1993

repeal of the rema ining restrictions on homosexuals w as received within

the IDF and in Israeli society as a whole. ^ *

In the context of a country continuously at war, lack of service is

considered suspect. Unrestricted participation in the military by sexual

minorities therefore serves to bolster the core Israeli value of common

defense of

th

nation rather than to threaten m ilitary cohesion or m orale.




When asked if he had heard any suggestion by military officials that

known homosexuals affected operational effectiveness, combat readi-

ness, or unit cohesion, a board m ember of the hom osexual-rights groups

Agudaht Zechuyot Ha-ezrach responded: No , I have never heard any

such nonsense.

Relevance to the Am erican Case

The issue of gays in the military has been hotly contested in the

United States in recent years. When President Bill Clinton attempted to

force the Pentagon to allow known gays and lesbians to serve in the

military at the beginning of his administration. Congress reacted by

including new statutory guidelines for homosexual service members in

the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994. Accord-

ing to the comprom ise referred to as D on 't Ask, D on 't Te ll that was

embodied in Congressional law as well as Pentagon implementing

regulations, known homosexuals are not allowed to serve in the U.S.

armed forces. The unit cohesion rationale, the official justification for

the new policy, is that if known gays and lesbians w ere allowed to serve ,

unit cohesion, performance, readiness, and morale would decline.^*

During Congressional hearings that culminated in the passage of

D on 't Ask, D on 't Tell, and on numerous occasions since that time,

scholars and experts debated whe ther the experiences of foreign militar-

ies might confirm or falsify the plausibility of the unit cohesion ratio-

na le . Experts who advocate allowing known gays and lesbians in the

U.S. armed forces often claim that foreign military experiences prove

that performance does not decline after the lifting of a gay ban. Critics

often respond that foreign experiences are irrelevant to the American

case and that they do not show that the U.S. military would remain

effective if the gay ban were lifted.

As for Israel, experts (mostly U.S.) have raised three arguments to

bolster their claim that the evidence from the IDF is irrelevant for

determining wh ether the U.S. military w ould remain effective if the gay

ban were lifted. First, they have argued that even though Israel lifted all

restrictions on homosexuals in 1993, no known gay and lesbian soldiers

have served in combat or intelligence units of the

IDF.

Second , they say

that large organizational and cultural differences distinguish the Am eri-

can and Israeli cases. Third, they claim that gay and lesbian soldiers

receive special treatment in the

IDF.

We agree or partially agree with all

of these argum ents. Our interpretation of the findings, however, differs

from those of experts who claim that foreign military experiences are




irrelevant. While no single case study can show decisively what would

happen if the

U.S.

changed its policy, lessons from the Israeli experience

seem to us to be relevant for determ ining what w ould happen if the U .S.

Congress and Pentagon lifted the American gay ban. In particular, we

believe that the Israeli experience lends some weight to the claim that

Am erican military effectiveness would not decline if known homosexu-

als were allowed to serve.

Know n Gay and Lesbian Soldiers in Com bat and Intelligence Units of

the IDF

According to Professor Charles Moskos, one of the principal archi-

tects of D on 't Ask, D on 't Te ll, there are no known gay and lesbian

soldiers in combat or intelligence units of the IDF. During testimony

before the Senate Armed S ervices Committee in 1993 , M oskos stated

that known gay so ldiers were not assigned to elite combat units, did not

work for intelligence units, and did not hold comm and positions in any

branch.^* In later work, M oskos reaffirmed that gays are excluded

from elite combat units, and most sleep at their own homes rather than

in barrac ks. ^' During two recent appearances on National Public

Radio

Moskos said that there are no known gay soldiers in combat or

intelligence units of the IDF.^

Our findings indicate that he is partially correct. As is true with

many m ilitaries, a distinction m ust be made between official IDF policy

concerning sexual minorities and the realities of informal IDF practices

and culture. Like the rest of Israeli society, the IDF was until recently

an environment in which sexual minorities were largely invisible. Prior

to the lifting of the ban in 1993, the vast majority of gay and lesbian

soldiers kept their sexual orientation priv ate, due to fears of both official

sanc tions and ostracism from fellow soldiers.- Lesb ian and gay sol-

diers often preferred to wait until reserve service to be more open about

their sexual identity, since the atmosphere was less restrictive and more

conducive to a separate personal life. Rafi Niv,

journalist who writes

on gay issues, confirmed in 1993 that M ost gay soldiers I know are in

the closet. ^^

Even before Israel lifted its gay ban in 1993, how ever, some known

gay and lesbian soldiers did serve in the IDF and some were promoted

through the ranks and served in positions requiring top security clear-

ances. In 1993, for example, an Israeli military attache assigned to the

embassy in Washington, D C, declared that Israel did not have a blanket

ban on hom osexua ls for top-secret positions.^' Gal reported in 1994 that




prior to the lifting of the ban, much latitude normally was given when

a seasoned soldier was suddenly discovered to be a hom osexual. He said

that homosexual soldiers did in fact serve openly in units with top

security clearances and that soldiers who excelled were unlikely to be

removed once their sexual orientation was revealed. According to Gal,

Com manding officers, even in highly classified intelligence units, who

had homosexual soldiers who performed satisfactorily under their

command refrained from enforcing [the ban on homosexuals in sensi-

tive units]. ' ' '

All available evidence suggests that the IDF continues to be a place

where many homosexual soldiers choose not to disclose their sexual

orientation. As more gay Israelis have grown comfortable about ex-

pressing their orientation in recent years, however, greater open ness has

been found in the military as well.^' A woman w ho decided to bring her

partner to one of her ba se 's social events in 1997 explains that the

decision was preceded by consultations with my professional

commander....He recommended to me quite warmly not to hide my

sexual orientation and promised to support me professionally if there

were any problems following my revelation. ^* A June 2000 Israeli

television broadcast that was sanctioned by the IDF featured homo-

sexual active-duty and reserve soldiers discussing their experiences of

being gay in the m ilit ary. W alzer found that military personnel

generally reported positive responses to their coming out and in 1997 he

spotted a soldier in uniform at a gay pride march. When asked if

appearing in uniform could cause problems with military officials, the

soldier replied: No , not at all. I can come here in uniform. The m ilitary

command is accepting of [gay and lesbian soldiers]. ^* An officer

interviewed for this report had no problems rising through the ranks as

an open lesbian. When asked how overall attitudes had changed since

the 1993 policy change, the major replied: I have felt a change for the

better, mainly in the attitude of security o fficers, but not as big a change

(because not as big a change was needed) as it seems by the change in

army regulations. ^' While no official statistics exist on the number of

known gay and lesbian soldiers in the IDF today , these and other sources

indicate growing openness.

Even though we agree that most homosexuals in IDF combat and

intelligence units do not acknowledge their sexual orientation to peers,

it is also true that some known gays do serve in such un its. Indeed, some

IDF combat and intelligence units have developed a reputation as

particularly welcoming to gay and lesbian soldiers; some have even

developed a gay culture. Ro'ei, a tank corps soldier, reported in 1999



Belk in and Levit t

5 5

that I have not had any problems being gay. On the contrary, in my base

we had a large gay contingent. You would come to the base, and you

know one other gay person, who knows another gay person,

etc...

.In my

basic training, people knew that I was gay and it was enough that there

was one homophobe in my unit....A fter that, I had nothing to be afraid

of. People come out of the closet while they are civilians, why could I

not do it during the army? Sometimes, it's even easier because you are

protected from society. You don't have friends from the same town so

you can be more open in the army.' *

Kaplan and Ben-Ari conducted in-depth interviews with 21 self

identified gay IDF combat soldiers and found that five of them (23.8%)

were known to be homosexual by at least one other member in their

combat unit.*' If we estimate conserva tively that two percent of Isra el's

130,000 active duty land forces are gay, and if we extrapolate based on

K ap lan 's finding that 23.8 percent of gay combat soldiers are known by

at least one peer to be homosexual, then we can estimate that 2,600

active duty IDF foot soldiers are gay and that 619 of them are known by

at least one member of their unit to be homosexual.''•^ Even if this

informal estimate is wildly exaggerated, recall that opponents of lifting

the ban claim that no known gays serve in combat and intelligence units

in Israel. Even in combat and intelligence units with known gay soldiers,

however, we found

o

evidence of a deterioration in cohesion, perfor-

mance, readiness, or morale. Generals, ministry officials, scholars, and

NGO observers all have claimed that their presence has not eroded

cohesion, performance, readiness, or morale.

Those who believe that low disclosure rates underscore the irrel-

evance of foreign military experiences assume that if the American ban

were lifted, many gays and lesbians would reveal their sexual orienta-

tion. This assumption seems highly questionable.

considerable am ount

of evidence suggests that gay and lesbian soldiers in the U.S. and in

Israel are driven by the same factor: they reveal their sexual orientation

only when safe to do so. With regard to Israel, Fink confirmed the

impression of numerous experts who we interviewed: .. . I think it

really depends on the unit and on the commanders in the specific unit.

In some units it will be really

a

piece of cake to come out and people [will

f ind] it something that makes their unit more diverse, more

interesting....There are other units in which especially a commander

can be a conserva tive or homophobic and not help the gay soldier to be

part of the unit....' *'

The same calculus motivates Americans. For example, a study of

American police departments that allow open homosexuals to serve




identified seven known gays in the Chicago Police Department and

approximately 100 in the New York Police Department. Several differ-

ent factors may account for the variation in disclosure rates but scholars

who have compared organizations believe that much if not most of the

variance reflects the fact that safety is the primary determinant of Am eri-

cans' decisions to reveal sexual orientation. Since safety varies from

organization to organization depending on w hether leaders express clear

messages in support of integration, disclosure rates vary as well. Koegel

claims that Perhaps one of the most salient factors that influences

whether homosexual police officers or firefighters make their sexual

orientation known to their departments is their perception of the

climate...[T]he more hostile the environment, the less likely it was that

people publicly acknowledged their hom osexuality. ''' Similar variance

can be found in the U.S. military, and a recent study found that while 21.2

percent of naval officers know a gay sailor, only 4.1 percent of Marine

officers know a gay Marine. *^ It seems likely to us that this difference

results from the fact that it is safer to reveal one 's ho mosexuality in the

U.S. Navy than in the M arines. Indeed, at least one study has found the

U.S. Navy to be more tolerant toward hom osexua ls than the Marines. *'

To summ arize our response to the first argument, known hom osexu-

als do not undermine cohesion and performance in Israeli combat and

intelligence un its. And, the fact that many gay Israeli soldiers choose not

to reveal their orientation does not indicate that the Israeli experience is

irrelevant for determining what would happen if the U.S. lifted its gay

ban. On the contrary, the evidence shows that both Israelis and Ameri-

cans come out of the closet only when it is safe to do so. Scholars who

believe that many American gays and lesbians would reveal their sexual

orientation if the ban were lifted need to answer two questions . First, if

American culture or the American gay rights movement are primary

determinants of disclosure rates, then why have so few homosexuals

revealed their sexual orientation in some U.S. police and fire depart-

ments that allow known gays to serve? And second, why do the majority

of gay Israeli soldiers decline to reveal their sexual orientation despite

the recent emergence of an Israeli gay rights movement that includes

widely-attended pride parades and civic and human rights organiza-

tions? Even the Pentagon's own studies have found that gay and lesbian

soldiers are as committed to national security, patriotism, and military

effectiveness as their heterosexual peers. To suggest that they would

reveal their sexual orientation when doing so would undermine their

personal safety or the effectiveness of their units seems to contradict the

available evidence.



B e l k in a n d L e v itt

553

pecial Treatment

Experts who claim that foreign experiences are irrelevant for deter-

mining if lifting the gay ban would undermine American military

performance argue that although many nations allow homosexuals to

serve in their armed forces, gay soldiers receive special treatment in

these cases. Even if the decision to allow known homosexuals to serve

does not harm the military, the special treatment that gays and lesbians

receive can undermine cohesion, performance, readiness, and morale.

In the case of Israel, for example, M oskos has noted that while it is true

that gays are expected to fulfill their military o bligation , it is also true

that they receive, de facto, special treatment. For example, gay soldiers

are assigned to open bases, allowing them to commute to and from

home and to sleep at their own homes rather than in barracks. '

Similar to the argument about the absence of known gays and

lesbians in combat and intelligence units, we have found that Moskos's

claim about special treatment is partially correct. Some evidence sug-

gests that prior to the 1993 decision, the IDF treated homosexual and

heterosexual soldiers equally in many cases. For example. Gal noted

that aside from a few exception s, hom osexua lity has almost no

bearing on an individual's m ilitary career. ™ Colonel Ron Levy, a

former head of t h e IDF mental health system, insisted that homosexuals

were not discriminated against by the military as a group.^'

How ever, other data confirm that treatmen t of gays and lesbians was

not always equitable before the

1 9 9 3

regulatory changes. Gal Uchovsky,

a journa list who analyzed IDF treatment of gays and lesbians, stated that

It' s a question of who you are and where you serve. ^^ An openly gay

reservist for an intelligence unit who had access to top-secret material

told one journalist that everyone knew that he and several other of the

un it's members were gay. It' s not an issue, he said. But he added after

a pause, in my un it. Ilan Sheinfeld, a reserve tank crew mem ber,

reported that security officers reduced his security ranking and alleg-

edly bugged his phone , although they did let up after he was transferred

to another j o b Sheinfeld declared that On e hand do esn 't know what the

other is doing.'

No quantitative data are available on whether sexual minorities

continue to face increased scrutiny for promotions and sensitive posi-

tions. Publicly, the IDF insists that homosexual soldiers are screened for

positions according to the same standards as heterosexual soldiers. For

exam ple, Brigadier-General Shoham, the judg e advocate gen eral, stated

in 1998 that the IDF accords equal rights and duties to gay and lesbian



5 54 Armed Forces Society/Summer 2001

soldiers. The comm ander in charge of draftees also reported in 1999 that

we are not interested in the sexual orien tation of the soldiers. ^^ In

support of these claims, a board member of Israel's primary gay rights

organization who was interviewed for this report knew of no cases in

which a soldier had been denied benefits, promotions, or assignments

because of his or her sexual orientation.'^ A review of newspaper

articles and web sites related to lesbian and gay issues in Israel also

uncovered no stories of soldiers who were denied promotions because

of their sexual orientation.

Even though available information suggests that official treatment

of sexual minorities has become more equitable since the 1993 removal

of homosexual restrictions, however, it seems clear that sexual minori-

ties do not always enjoy equal rights and that they con tinue to be viewed

with an increased level of scrutiny by some commanders. Official

differentiation still ex ists, if perhaps in a more muted form. For exam ple,

the IDF negotiated the first settlement providing survivor benefits to a

same-sex partner in 1997. How ever, the same-sex survivor received less

than the full monetary compensation usually given to war widows and

widow ers. While there are no rules against promoting gays and lesbians,

a clinical psychiatrist stated that soldiers in her care still suspec t that

if they come out, they won 't get a good position. ^^ Kaplan and B en-Ari

conclude that The new policy has only partly percolated into prac tice.

Similar to what has been found among other nations of NATO, full

integration has tended to lag behind policy changes. ^*

Despite the lack of perfectly equal treatment in all cases, several

important qualifications should be noted. To begin, we found that

unequal treatment is rare and that most Israeli gay and lesbian soldiers

are treated like their heterosexual peers m ost of the time.^' Gay soldiers

are assigned to open as well as closed bases and most cases of unequal

treatment that we found consisted of local attempts to resolve problems

flexibly rather than systematic extensions of special rights. For ex-

ample, some heterosexu l soldiers are allowed to live off-base or to

change units if they are having trouble with their group. And, some

comm anders allow

heterosexu l

so ldiers to shower privately . When gay

soldiers encounter hostility from others in their units, the issue tends to

be handled as a discrete situation rather than the symptom of a systemic

problem. Most importantly, we have not found any evidence to show

that differential treatment has undermined performance, cohesion , readi-

ness,

or mo rale. Indeed, most of the experts who confirmed that Israe l's

decision to lift its gay ban did not undermine performance, cohesion,

readiness, or morale also confirmed that the treatment of gays and




lesbians has not been perfectly equitable in all cases. Despite their

awareness that this is true, all experts agreed that lifting the gay ban did

not undermine military effectiveness.

Organizational and Cultural Differences

third argument that experts have invoked to show that foreign

military experiences are irrelevant for determining whether lifting the

gay ban would underm ine Am erican military performance is that impor-

tant organizational and cultural differences distinguish the United

States from other countries that allow known homosexuals to serve.

More specifically, they argue that the U.S. military is a unique institu-

tion that cannot be equated with foreign armed forces. In addition,

unlike most other countries, the United States is home to powerful gay

rights groups as well as large and highly organized conservative orga-

nizations.

In the case of Israel, this argumen t is correct. We believe that several

important organizationa l and cultural differences distinguish the Israeli

and American cases. To begin, many American citizens do not regard

service in the armed forces as a necessary rite of passage . In Israel, on

the other hand, the prevalence of security issues and the system of nea r-

universal conscription have made participation in the IDF the primary

rite of passage into Israeli citizenship and a necessary precondition for

consideration as a full member of society. Although the military's

prestige has declined somew hat in recent years, full participation in the

armed forces by gays and lesbians still is seen by many as the fulfillment

of a shared responsibility to defend the nation rather than as a threat to

military stability. According to W alzer, the IDF has been a unifying,

uniform experience for Israeli Jews; those who escape service, namely

the ultra-Orthodox, are highly resented by most Israeli Jews. That gays

and lesbians seek to contribute to their country through m ilitary service

is an affirmation of what the IDF tries to represen t itself

as:

an institution

that brings the diverse strata of Israeli society together. * Because

almost all Israelis serve in the armed forces, unit counselors who

confront problems involving adjustment to military life and interper-

sonal relations emphasize flexibility and mutual accommodation. In the

Am erican armed forces, by contrast, the system of voluntary enlistmen t

forces the military to compete with private sector em ployers who might

offer more promising career options to potential recruits.

Another distinction betw een the two cases is that Israeli society does

not have a longstanding tradition of anti-gay violence or hatred of



556 Armed Forces & Society/Summer 2001

h o m o s e x u a l s , a l t h o u g h o b s e r v e r s h a v e s p o k e n o f a s t r o n g h e t e r o s e x i s t

o u t l o o k , i n w h i c h o n e i s p r e s u m e d t o b e s t r a i g h t . * ' I n t h e m i l i t a r y

c o n t e x t , I D F c o m m a n d e r s d o n o t u s e n e g a t i v e i m a g e s o f h o m o s e x u a l i t y

a s a m o t i v a t o r i n b a s i c t r a i n i n g a n d t h e y d o n o t u s e t h e H e b r e w

e q u i v a l e n t o f f a g g o t t o h u m i l i a t e s o l d i e r s w h o p e r f o r m p o o r l y . W h i l e

t h e t e r m h o m o g e t s u s e d , it i s p r i m a r i l y e m p l o y e d b y s o l d i e r s t e a s i n g

each o ther .*^

F i n a l l y , u n l i k e s e x u a l m i n o r i t i e s in t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , h o m o s e x u -

a l s i n I s r a e l d i d n o t b e g i n to d e v e l o p a s e m i - a u t o n o m o u s c u l t u r e o r

o r g a n i z e d p o l i t i c a l m o v e m e n t u n t i l t h e l a t e 1 9 8 0 s a n d e a r l y 1 9 9 0 s .

W a l z e r s a y s t h a t u n t i l r e c e n t l y , t h e I s r a e l i g a y a n d l e s b i a n c o m m u n i t y

w a s n o t m o b i l i z e d to d e m a n d i ts r i g h t s a n d t h a t l e g i s l a t i v e v i c t o r i e s

s u c h a s t h e r e p e a l o f t h e s o d o m y l a w r e s u l t e d f ro m t o p - d o w n e l i t e

a c t i o n r a t h e r t h a n g r a s s r o o t s p o l i t i c a l p r e s s u r e . C o n v e r s e l y , a n t i - g a y

f o r c e s a r e n o t o r g a n i z e d i n t o s o c ia l m o v e m e n t s in I s r a e l . F o r e x a m p l e ,

in t h e e a r l y 1 9 9 0 s G A O r e s e a r c h e r s w h o a t t e m p t e d t o c o n t a c t o r g a n i -

z a t i o n s th a t o p p o s e h o m o s e x u a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e m i l i ta r y w e r e t o l d

t h a t n o n e e x i s t . * ^

D e s p i t e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l a n d c u l t u r a l d i f f e r e n c e s , w e d o n o t b e l i e v e

t h a t t h e I s r a e l i e x p e r i e n c e i s i r r e l e v a n t fo r d e t e r m i n i n g w h e t h e r A m e r i -

c a n m i l i ta r y e f f e c t i v e n e s s w o u l d s u ff e r if k n o w n h o m o s e x u a l s w e r e

a l l o w e d t o s e r v e i n t h e U . S . a r m e d f o r c e s . F o r e x a m p l e , o r g a n i z a t i o n a l

s t r u c t u r e d o e s n o t s e e m t o p l a y a n i m p o r t a n t r o l e i n d e t e r m i n i n g w h e t h e r

t h e l if ti n g o f a g a y b a n u n d e r m i n e s m i l i ta r y p e r f o r m a n c e . N o t w o

m i l i t a r ie s a r e e x a c t l y t h e s a m e a n d t h e t w e n t y - t h r e e a r m e d f o r c e s t h a t

h a v e l i ft e d t h e i r g a y b a n s i n c l u d e d i f f e r e n t o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c o n f i g u r a -

t i o n s . *

S o m e m i l i t a r i e s , s u c h a s t h e C a n a d i a n F o r c e s , a r e v o l u n t e e r

o r g a n i z a t i o n s t h a t a r e n o t c e n t r a l t o n a t i o n a l i d e n t i t y w h i l e o t h e r s s u c h

a s t h e I s r a e l D e f e n s e F o r c e s a r e c o n s c r i p t m i l i t a r i e s t h a t p l a y a m o r e

p r o m i n e n t r o l e i n t h e n a t i o n ' s c o n s c i o u s n e s s . I n t h e 2 7 y e a r s s i n c e t h e

D u t c h m i l i t a r y b e c a m e t h e f i r s t t o l i f t i t s b a n i n 1 9 7 4 , n o c o u n t r i e s t h a t

h a v e d e c i d e d t o a l l o w k n o w n h o m o s e x u a l s t o s e r v e h a v e r e p o r t e d a

d e c r e a s e i n m i l i ta r y p e r f o r m a n c e . G i v e n t h a t o r g a n i z a t i o n a l p a r t ic u -

l a r i t i e s d o n o t d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r t h e l i ft i n g o f a g a y b a n u n d e r m i n e s t h e

a r m e d f o r c e s , t h e i n s t i t u t i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s t h a t d i s t i n g u i s h t h e I s r a e l i

a n d A m e r i c a n m i l i t a r i e s d o n o t s u p p o r t t h e a r g u m e n t t h a t I D F e x p e r i -

e n c e s a r e i r r e l e v a n t f o r d e t e r m i n i n g w h a t w o u l d h a p p e n i f t h e U . S .

a l l o w e d k n o w n h o m o s e x u a l s t o s e r v e .

W i t h r e s p e c t t o c u l t u r a l d i f f e r e n c e s , t h e I s r a e l i p u b l i c i s n o t c o m -

p l e t e l y a c c e p t i n g of h o m o s e x u a l i t y a n d A m e r i c a n s o c i e t y i s n o t c o m -

p l e t e l y i n t o l e r a n t . U n d e r t r a d i t i o n a l J e w i s h l a w , s e x b e t w e e n t w o m e n



Belk in and Levit t 7

is considered unclean, and a 1983 study found Israelis to be consider-

ably less toleran t of hom osexuality than Americans.*^ Although Israeli

culture has becom e more tolerant since 1983, religious parties con tinue

to oppose gay rights and gay and lesbian soldiers in the IDF continue to

serve in the context of a macho organizational culture that promotes a

masculinity oriented to heterosexuality and bonding through jokes

about women and homosexuals. While Israeli commanders do not use

the Hebrew equivalent of the word faggot, poor combat performance

often is equated with childishness and femininity and ...im ag es of

combat soldiers as masculine, tough and team oriented are often con-

trasted with stereotypes of homosexuality as characterized by effemi-

nacy, mental illness, promiscuity, lon eliness and insecurity. *^ A study

by Sion and Ben-Ari of the humor used in two elite combat units found

that jocu larity about sexuality was explicitly heterosexual and included

jokes and stories about homosexuals.*^ D iscussions of women and sex

continue to be a uniting factor for unit personnel, even as the strong bond

created in small units permits expressions of affection that would

generally be avoided in all-ma le groups.*' Just as Israeli culture is not

completely tolerant, American culture is not completely intolerant. For

example, a recent Gallup poll shows that 70 percent of Americans

believe that gays should be allowed to serve in the military, and a recent

Harris poll shows that 48 percent of Am ericans believe that nown gays

should be allowed to serve in the military.™

More importantly, tolerant national climates are not necessary for

maintaining cohesion, readiness, morale, and performance after the

integration of a minority group into the military. Among the twenty-

three nations that allow know n gays and lesbians to serve, many include

powerful social and political groups that oppose gay rights.' It would

not be possible for the numerous American police and fire departments

that include known homosexuals to continue to function smoothly if a

fully tolerant national climate were necessary for the maintenance of

organizational effectiveness. W ithout equating the experiences of sexual

and racial minorities, the U.S. military allowed African American

soldiers to serve on an equal basis when 63 percent of the American

public opposed integration.'^ We do not equate the experiences of

sexual and racial minorities but we do believe that the racial example

shows that tolerant cultural climates are not necessary for maintaining

organizational effectiveness when minority groups are integrated into

the military. According to a recent study, if the military services are

eventually ordered to cease excluding homosexuals who engage in

homosexual behavior, they will do so quite effectively and without




m a j o r i n c i d e n t s , p r o v i d e d t h a t t h e l e a d e r s h i p . . . c l e a r l y c o m m u n i c a t e [ s ]

s u p p o r t f o r t h e c h a n g e . ^ ^

Conclusion

In our comprehensive search for published evidence and our inter-

views with all known experts on hom osexuality in the IDF , we were not

able to find any data suggesting that Israel's decision to lift its gay ban

undermined operational effectiveness, combat readiness, unit cohesion,

or morale. In this security-conscious country, where the military is

considered to be essential to the continued existence of the nation, the

decision to include sexua l minorities has not harmed ID F effectiveness.

In addition, although no official statistics are available for harassment

rates of sexual minorities in the IDF, scholars, military officials, and

represen tatives of gay organizations alike assert that vicious harassm ent

is rare. Despite the facts that the majority of gay combat so ldiers do not

disclose their sexual orientation to peers, that some gay sold iers receiv e

special treatment, and that important organizational and cultural

differences distinguish the Israeli and American cases, we believe

that the Israeli experience supports the claim that American military

effectiveness would not decline if known homosexua ls were allowed to

serve.

Professor Laura Miller has argued that although straight soldiers'

reactions to open gays could undermine unit cohesion in the U.S.

military, merely lifting the gay ban would not undermine cohesion,

morale, readiness, or performance.^ M iller, whose conc lusions are

based on interviews she conducted over the past ten years with thou-

sands of American soldiers, reasons that few gays or lesbians would

come out of the closet in units where hostility and homophobia prevail.

Rather, she believes that American gay and lesbian soldiers would

disclose their sexual orientation to peers only when they believed it was

safe to do so. In other w ords, she draws a sharp distinction between the

effect of the decision to lift a gay ban and the effect of the presence of

known gays and lesbians in the military. The Israeli case seems to us to

confirm her distinction.

Notes

AUTHORS' NOTE:

We are grateful to the numerou s

individu ls

who helped us conduct

our research. In particular we offer deepest thanks to the service members officials

scholars and experts who generously allowed us to interview them. And w e are very



Belkin and Levit t 559

grateful to three anonym ous

reviewers

from

Armed Forces & Society,

as well as Stuart

Cohen, Eva

Etzioni-Halevy,

Aeyal Gross, Danny Kaplan, Mary Katzenstein, Ruth Linn,

Laura

Miller

David R. Segal, and Lee W alzer for their helpful

reactions

to earlier drafts

of the

manuscript.

Most

importantly,

we

thank Rhonda

Evans and

Jason McNichol.

1.

The longest case study on the impact of the lifting of a gay ban is Rosemary E. Park,

Opening the Canadian Forces to Gays and Lesbians: An Inevitable But Improbable

Reconfiguration, in

Gays and

Lesbians

in the

Military:

Issues, Concerns, and Con-

trasts, ed s. Wilbur J. Scott an d Sand ra C. Stanley (New York: Aldin e d e Gruyter,

1994), 165-181. Also see the brief case studies in Gregory Herek, Jared Jobe, and

Ralph Carney, eds.. Out in Eorce: Sexual Orientation and the M ilitary (Chicago:

University of Chicago Press, 1996); National Defense Research Institute, Sexual

Orientation and U.S . Military Policy: Options and Assessment

(Santa Monica, CA:

RAND, 1993); General Accounting Office, Hom osexuals in the Military: Policies

and Practices of Foreign Countries (Washington, DC: U.S. Gen eral Accounting

Office, 1993); and Frank Pond, A Comparative Survey a nd Ana lysis of Military

Policies with Regard to Service by Gay Persons, in

Policy

Concerning

Homosexu-

ality in the Armed Forces.

Hearing held by Sen ate Armed Services Committee.

103rd Congress, 2nd Session (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office,

1993).

For theoretical analysis see W. Darryl Henderson,

Cohesion, the Human

Element in Combat (Washington, DC: National Defense Univ ersity Press, 1 985);

Ronald D. Ray, Military Necessity & Homosexuality, in

Gays: In or Out? The

U.S. Military Homosexuals A Sourcebook (New York: B rasse y's, 1 993); Charles

C. Moskos, From Citize n s' Army to Social L aboratory, Wilson Quarterly 17 (Win-

ter 1 993), 83-94; Elizabeth Kie r, Homosexuals in the U.S. Milit ary: Open In tegra-

tion and Combat Effectiveness, International Security 23 (1998): 5-39; Robert J.

MacCoun, Sexual Orien tation and Military Cohesion: A Critical Rev iew of the

Evidence, in Out in Force, 1 57-176.

2. Reuven Gal, Gays in the Military: Policy and Practice in the Israeli Defense Forces,

in Scott and Stanley, Gays and Lesbians in the Military, 181-189; National Defense

Research Institute, Sexual Orientation and

U.S.

Military Policy, 85-90; Gene ral Ac-

counting Office, Homosexuals in the Military, 38-43; Paul Gade, David Segal, and

Edgar Johnson, The Experien ce of Foreign Milita ries, in O ut in Force, 1 24-125.

3. Israe l's ground , air, and lan d forces includ e approximately 173,500 troops on activ e

duty and 425,000 on reserve. Anthony H. Cordesman,

Middle East

Military

Balance

2000

(Washington, DC: Cen ter for Security a nd Interna tional Studies, 2000).

4. B aruch Kimme rling,

The

Interrupted System (New B runswick, NJ: Tran saction B ooks,

1985); Reuven Gal and Stuart Cohen, Israel: Still Waitin g in the Win gs, in

The

Postmodern Military: Armed Forces after the Cold War,

ed. Charles C. Moskos,

John Allen Williams, and David Segal (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000),

224. For recen t chan ges in the IDF's role in Israeli society, see Stuart Cohen, Mili-

tary Service in Israel: From Nation-B ind er to Nation -Divid er? Paper prepared for

B ESA Conference on Armed Forces in Israel and Other Western De mocratic Soci-

eties, Bar-Ilan University, 8-10 June 1998.

5. Israel does not conscript Arabs. Pregna nt and married women , those with seve re

handicaps, and ultra-orthodox Jews also are exempted from service. See Yagil Levy,



560 Arm e d Forc e s & Socie ty/Summer 2001

The Right to Fight: Recru itm ent of Ho m ose xuals in the U.S . and Israe l, Llnpub-

lished manuscript, 2000; Amia Lieblich,

Transition to Adulthood D uring Military

Service: The Israeli Case

(A lbany, NY: State University of New York Pres s, 1 989).

6. Clyde Haberm an, Hom ose xuals in Israeli A rm y: No Official Discrim ination, But

Keep It Secret,

New York Times,

21 February 1993, 14.

7.

Knesset Daily Hearings, Discrim ination and Hindrances of the A cce ptance of Se xual

Minorities in the IDF, 13th Knesset, 2nd Session, 10 February 1993, 3202-3208.

8. Lee Walzer, Between Sodom and Eden: A Gay Journey Through Today s Changing

Israel

(New York: Colum bia University Pre ss, 200 0), 1 17-118; Robert Bloc k, Gay

King David Theory Starts Goliath of a Row,

The Independent

11 February 1993,

11; The ssociated

Press, Defense Official S ays He Was Fired after Com ing Out as

Hom osexual, 2 F ebruary 1993.

9. A m ir Sum akai Fink and Jacob Press,

Independence

Park: The Lives of

Gay

Men in

Israel

(Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, 1999), 11 .

10 .

A m endm ents to K-31-11-01 Service of Homosexuals in the IDF, Manpower Division

Standing Orders

(Israel De fense F or ce s, 1993). Fo r the English translation, see Walzer,

Between Sodom and Eden,

118-119. Professor Aeyal Gross of Tel Aviv University

reports in a forthcoming article that the 1993 revisions were canceled quietly in 1998.

11.

Stuart Cohen, Personal com m unication, 10 A pril 20 00 .

12 .

Charles Gibson, anchor, U.S . S truggling with Issu e of Gays in the Military ,

ABC

News, 9 March 2000.

13.

A nonym ous, Personal com m unication, 18 March 20 00 .

14.

A m ir Fink, Personal com m unication, 11 A pril 200 0.

15 .

The following section is based o n Ma'ayan Zigdo n, Com ing out of the Kitbag,

Ba m achne, 22 October 1999, 21 -25.

16.

In one case, for exam ple, two (heterosexual) soldiers m ade a bet to see who would

perform oral sex on whom . Gay so ldiers present at the time were appalled by the

incident. See Walzer,

Between Sodom and Eden.

Approximately three-quarters of

our interview subjects mentioned that vicious harassment is rare, although approxi-

mately two-thirds had heard negative comments about gay and lesbian people during

their military service.

17 .

Walzer,

Between

Sodom and Eden.

18.

A nonym ous, Personal com m unication, 27 March 200 0.

19.

This paragraph is based o n Walzer,

Between Sodom and Eden,

134 and Walzer,

Personal com m unication, 14 A pril 20 00 .

20.

Fo r recent problem s conc erning the sexual harassm ent of fem ale so ldiers in the

m ilitary, see Stacy Feldm an, The Gender Battlefield,

The Jerusalem Report

10 April

2 0 0 0 , 11;

Gayil Hareven, Of Vice and Men,

The Jerusalem Report

10 Apr il 2000 .

2 1 .

Raanan Gabbay, Personal com m unication, 9 A pril 20 00 ; Oren Slozberg, Personal

communication, 9 April 2000; Dan Yakir, Personal communication; 25 March 2000.



Belkin and Levit t

561

All three are affiliated with gay rights groups in Israel.

22 . National Defense Research Institute, Sexual O rientation and U.S. M ilitary Policy,

85-90; General Accounting Office, Homosexuals in the Military, 38-43.

2 3.

General Accounting Office, Homosexuals in the

Military,

43.

24. Gal, Gays in the Military, in Gays and Lesbians in the

Military,

188.

25. Gabbay, Personal communication, 9 April 2 000.

26 . Janet Halley, Don't: A Reader's Guide to the Military's Anti-Gay Policy (Durham,

NC: Duke University Press, 1999); Urvashi Vaid, Virtual

Equality:

The Mainstreaming

of Gay Lesbian Liberation (New York: Anchor Books, 1995).

27 . Policy C oncerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces; The C onnection, National

Public Radio 2 0 December 1999; C harles C . Moskos and Stacey L. Sobel, Should

Gays Serve,

Salon

13 June 2000, available at

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/

2000/06/13/fight_club/index].html

28. Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces, 350.

29. C harles C . Moskos, From C itizens' Army to Social Laboratory, in Gays and Lesbi-

ans in

the Military,

6 4.

30. World Affairs C ouncil Weekly Broadcast, National Public Radio 1 May 2000;

The C onnection, National Public Radio 2 0 December 1999.

31.

National Defense Research Institute,

Sexual O rientation and U.S. Military Policy,

85-90; General Accounting Office, Homosexuals in the

Military,

38-43.

32 .

Haberman, Homosexuals in Israeli Army, 14.

33. Pond, A C omparative Survey, in Policy Concerning Homosexuality.

34. Gal, Gays in the Military, in Gays a nd Lesbians in the

Military,

186.

35. Approximately two-thirds of our interview subjects spoke about the openness or

growing openness of the IDF, although not everyone framed the is sue this way .

For example, one respondent said that she had seen no change over time but

that she had always found the IDF to be accepting of gays and lesbians. There

was a general consensus among interviewees that negative attitudes about ho-

mosexuals persist but that the military, like the rest of Israeli society, is becoming

more accepting.

36 .

C ited in Walzer,

etween Sodom and Eden,

133.

37 . Aeyal M. Gross, Between the Homosocial and the Homoerotic: Gays/Military in

C omparative and International Law—A Summary, Unpublished m anuscript, 2000 .

38.

C ited in Walzer, etween Sodom and Eden, 114.

39. Anonymous, Personal communication, 30 March 2 000.

40.

Zigdon, C oming out of the Kitbag, 2 5; 2 2 .

41 .

Danny Kaplan and Eyal Ben-A ri, Brothers and Others in Arms: Managing Gay



562 Armed Forces

Society/Summer 2001

Identity in Combat Units of the Israeli Army,

Journal of Contemporary Ethnogra-

phy 29, 4 (forthcoming); Danny Kaplan, Personal communication, 18 July 2000.

Interviewees reflected a broad range of social backgrounds and served in elite infan-

try brigades, the armored corps, artillery units, combat engineering units, navy attack

ships,

and submarines and pilots' school. Interviewees served 3 to 4 years from 1980

to 1996. While most were sergeants, two were officers

42 . The two percent figure is conservative. Canadian experts, for example, estimate that

3.5 percent of the Canadian armed forces consists of gay and lesbian soldiers. Sur-

veys have found that 7.3 percent of American veterans have had gay sex. See Aaron

Belkin and Jason McNichol, Effects of

the

1992 L ifting of

Restrictions

on Gay and

Lesbian Service in the C anadian Arm ed F orces: Appraising the Evidence

(Santa

Barbara, CA: Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, 2000),

available at www.gaymilitary.ucsb.edu; Lois Shawer,

And the Flag Was Still There:

Straight People, Gay Peo ple and Sexuality in the U.S. Military

(Binghamton, NY:

Harrington Park Press, 1995), 198.

43.

Fink, Personal comm unication, 11 April 2000.

44. Paul Koegel, Lessons Learned from the Experiences of Domestic Police and Fire

Departments, in

Out in Force,

137.

45 .

Koegel, Lessons Learned, in Out in

Force,

138.

46.

John W. Bicknell, Jr.,

Study of Naval O fficers Attitudes Toward Homosexuals in the

Military

(Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School). Master's thesis, 2000, 176.

47 .

Bicknell,

Study of Naval Officers Attitudes.

48 . Theodore R. Sarbin and Kenneth E. Karols, Nonconforming Sexual Orientations

and Military Suitability, in Gay s in Uniform ; The Pentagon s Secret Reports, ed.

Kate Dyer (Boston, MA: Alyson Publications, Inc., 1990), 34-35. This is also known

as the PERSEREC report.

49 .

Moskos, From Citizens' Army to Social Laboratory, in

Gays and L esbians in the

Military,

64.

50 .

Gal, Gays in the Military, in

Gays

and

Lesbians

in the

Military,

187.

51 .

Israeli Army Denies Discriminating Against Homosexual Soldiers,

The ssociated

Press,

7 February 1993.

52 .

Eric Silver, Easier to Be Gay,

Jerusalem

Post, 25 February 1993.

53 .

Haberman, Homosexuals in Israeli Arm y.

54.

Silver, Easier to Be Gay ; Sasha Sadan and Asher Wallfish, IDF Policy on Draft-

ing Gays Won't Change,

Jerusalem Post

8 February 1993.

55.

Zigdon, Coming out of the Kitbag, 24.

56 .

Gabbay, Personal comm unication, 29 March 2000.

57 . Zigdon, Coming out of the Kitbag, 21-25.

58 . Kaplan and Ben-Ari, Brothers and Others in Arm s.




59 . Approximateiy three-quarters of our interview subjects said that some discrimination

exists but that in general, sexual orientation is not a major issue with regard to

promotions or equal treatment.

60 .

Walzer, Personal communication, 14 April 2000.

61 . Walzer, etween Sodom and Eden, 16.

62.

Danny Kaplan, The Military as a Second Bar Mitzvah: Combat Service as an

Initiation Rite to Zionist Masculinity,

in Imagined Masculinities: Male Identity and

Culture in the Modern Middle East,

ed. Emma Sinclair-Webb and Mai Ghoussoub

(London: Al-Saqi Books, forthcoming).

63 . Walzer, Between Sodom and Eden, 19. General Accounting Office, Homosexuals in

the Military.

64 .

A list of nations that allow gays and lesbians to serve in the armed forces is available

on the web site of the International Gay Lesbian Association at http://www ilga org/

InformationAegal_survey/Summary%20information/armed_forces.htm

65 . Gade et al., The Experience of Foreign Militaries, in

Ou t in Fo rce.

66 . Gal, Gays in the Military, in Gays

and

Lesbians

in the

Military.

67. Kaplan, The Military as a Second Bar Mitzvah, in Imagined

Ma sculinities,

Kaplan

and Ben-Ari, Brothers and Others in Arm s ; Michael Levertov, Male Preserve,

Ha'aretz Magazine,

4 June 1999; C. W. Anderson and H. R. Smith, Stigma and

Honor: Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual People in the U.S Military, in Homosexual

Issues in the Workplace,

ed. L . D iamant (W ashington, DC: Taylor and Francis,

1993), 65-89 .

68 .

L. Sion and Eyal Ben-Ari, Hungry, Weary, and Hom y: Humor and Laughter in

Israe l's Military Reserves. Unpublished manuscript.

69 . Danny Kaplan,

rother and Others in Arms: The Making of Love and War in Israeli

Combat Units

(Binghamton, NY, forthcoming).

70. Gallup Polls 2000. Available at h t tp: / /www.gallup.com/poll /Indicators/

indhomosexual.asp; The Harris Poll Election 2000 , (PRNew swire, 15 February

2000).

71. Barry Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak, and Andre Krouwel, eds.. The Global Emer-

gence of Gay and Lesbian Politics; National Imprints of a Worldwide Movement

(Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1999).

72. Elizabeth Kier, Rights and Fights: Sexual Orientation and Military Effectiveness,

International Security

24,

1 (Summer 1999): 196.

73. Gade et al., The Experience of Foreign Militaries, in O ut in Force, 127.

74 . Laura Miller, Are Open Gays a Threat to Cohesion, Lecture presented to the

Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, University of California,

Santa Barbara, 21 April 2000, available at http;//www.gaymilitary.ucsb.edu/

programs. htm six




Appendix 1

Personal Communications

Anonymous Female). Former Soldier, Israeli Defense Forces. 19 March 2000.

Anonymous Male). Former Captain, Israeli Defense Forces. 22 March 2000.

Anonym ous Female). Major, Military Intelligence, Israeli Defense Forces. 27 March

2000.

Anonymous Male). Former Soldier. 25 February 2000.

Anonym ous Male). Officer, ID F Mental Health Unit. 28 March 2000.

Asher, Arian. Professor of Political Science, Graduate Center of the City University of

New York. 3 March 2000.

Brom, Shlomo. Brigadier-General ret.) and Research Fellow, Jaffee Center for Strategic

Studies, Tel Aviv University. 6 March 2000.

Cohen, Stuart. Professor of Political Studies and Senior Research Fellow, Center for

Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University. 22 March, 24 March, 2 April, 5 April, 10

April 2000.

Dale,

Andrew. Israeli Citizen. 3 February, 13 April, and 15 April 2000.

D.

Monica. Shatil Organization, New Israel Fund. 16 March 2000.

Demchak, Chris. Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, University of

Arizona. 11 April 2000.

El-Ad, Hagai. U.S. Coordinator for Jerusalem Open House. 7 March 2000.

Drori, Gili. Post-Doctoral Candidate, Center for International Security and Cooperation,

Stanford University. 26 March 2000.

Eskenazi, Jean-Marc. Coordinator, Pa-amayim at UC Berkeley. 27 February 2000.

Fink, Amir. Scholar and Co-Author of

ndependence

Park The Lives of Gay Men in

Israel

11 April 2000.

Gabbay, Raanan. Board Member and Chair of the Overseas Relations Committee of

Agudaht Zechuyot Ha-ezrach. 25 February, 28 March, 9 April 2000.

Gal, Reuven. Director, Israeli Institute for Military Studies. 5 April 2000.

Galili, Shuly. New Israel Fund, San Francisco Office. 19 February 2000.

Giladi, Eival. IDF Lt. General and Research Fellow, Center for International Security and

Cooperation, Stanford University. 29 March 2000.

Gross,

Aeyal. Professor of Law, Tel Aviv University. 4, 28, 29 March 2000.

Ben-Eliyahu, Hadass. Behavioral Scientist, Israeli Defense Forces. 8 April 2000.



Belkin and Levitt 6

Harel, Alon. Professor of Law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 21 March and 13

April 2000.

Heller, Mark. Research Fellow, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University.

27 February 2000.

Kaplan, Daniel. Scholar and Author of David Jonathan and O ther Soldiers. 19 February,

29 March, 18 July 2000.

Lev, Shai. Deputy Director, Israel Department of Defense. 28 March 2000.

Levy, Yagil. Research Fellow, Hubert Humphrey Institute for Social Research, Ben Gurion

University. 4 March and 15 April 2000.

Misrahi, Meytal. Founder, Israel Foreign Lesbos. 20 March 2000.

Molcho, Michal. Former Lieutenant, Organizational Counselor, Israeli Defense Forces. 18

March 2000.

Rimalt, Zvi. Former Soldier, Israeli Defense Forces. 28 February 2000.

Shapir, Yiftah. Research Fellow, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University.

27 February 2000.

Shachar, Rena. Israeli citizen. 20 March 2000.

Slozberg, Oren. Program Director, LYRIC. 28 February 2000.

Vitemberg, Ilan. Former Soldier, Israeli Citizen. 6 March 2000.

Walzer, Lee I. Author, B etween Sodom to

Eden:

A Gay ourney Through Today s C hang-

ing

Israel. 24 February 2000.

Yakir, Dan. Association for Citizens Rights in Israel. 25 March 2000.

Homsexuality and Israel Defense Forces

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