Mixed-Gender IDF Battalion Training to Fight ISIS Branch in Sinai
by David Daoud
The soldiers of the Israeli army’s co-ed Caracal battalion stationed along the Egyptian border are training to confront the rising threat of ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula, local PZM Magazine reported on Thursday.
According to the report, Caracal’s training has been focused of late on combating Wilayat Sinai, the branch of ISIS operating in the Egyptian-controlled Sinai. An attack by this group against Israeli targets is thought to be merely a matter of time.
Like their counterparts in a number of other IDF combat infantry units, such as the Paratroopers and the Givati Brigade, the advanced program for Caracal soldiers will include urban-combat counter-terror training.
The Caracal Battalion was established in 2000, prior to which women were barred from combat roles. It has been tasked with patrolling Israel’s border with Egypt. Since 2009, approximately 70% of its soldiers have been female.