Alice Miller (pilot)

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Alice Miller
אליס מילר
Personal details
BornSouth Africa
CitizenshipIsrael
Educationaerospace engineering
OccupationPilot
Military service
Allegiance Israel

Alice Miller (Hebrew: אליס מילר) is an Israeli pilot who successfully sued the Israeli military for the right to enlist in the Israeli Air Force Flight Academy.

Biography[edit]

Miller, a native of South Africa, migrated to Israel at the age of 6.[1][2]

While attending high school in Tel Aviv, Miller began to complain about the Israeli Defense Force refusing women the ability to try out for combat roles despite the compulsory military service.[3] By age 22, she was completing a degree in aerospace engineering from the Technion while on deferment from the army and had already received a civilian pilot's license from South Africa.[4][5]

Miller applied to the Israeli Air Force Flight Academy in November of 1993 and proceeded to sue the government for discrimination when they rejected her.[5][6] She sued the military for the right to take the qualification test, ultimately opening combat roles for women; among her arguments she cited female combatants in the Israeli war for independence, some of which who would later serve as pilots.[3]

The ban on female pilots was taken to the Israeli Supreme Court in 1995 and deemed unconstitutional in 1996.[7][8] After gaining the right to try out for the pilot's program, Miller, then an officer in the military, passed the entrance exam but was declared medically unfit for the program later that same year.[6][9][10]

Miller was followed by the first female graduate, Sari Rahat, in 1998 and the program's first female fighter pilot, Roni Zuckerman, in 2001.[11][12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Breaking Barriers: Alice Miller's Story". www.idf.il. IDF. December 2, 2015. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  2. ^ Cohen, Amichai; Cohen, Stuart (2012-08-06). Israel's National Security Law: Political Dynamics and Historical Development. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-65323-0.
  3. ^ a b Greenberg, Joel (1994-11-03). "Israeli Woman Sues for Chance to Be a Combat Pilot". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  4. ^ Matthews, Elizabeth (2011-03-21). The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Parallel Discourses. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-136-88432-0.
  5. ^ a b Sered, Susan; Sered, Susan Starr (2000). What Makes Women Sick?: Maternity, Modesty, and Militarism in Israeli Society. UPNE. ISBN 978-1-58465-050-8.
  6. ^ a b Ginsburg, Mitch (December 28, 2014). "38 female IAF pilots shatter the glass firmament". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  7. ^ FELDINGER, LAUREN GELFOND (September 18, 2008). "Skirting history". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  8. ^ Norton, Bill (2004). Air War on the Edge: A History of the Israeli Air Force and Its Aircraft Since 1947. Midland. ISBN 978-1-85780-088-3.
  9. ^ "Israel Air Force Not for Her". The New York Times. 1996-01-05. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  10. ^ Gross, Judah Ari (March 13, 2016). "New combat positions for women in the IDF, same old obstacles". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  11. ^ Ginsburg, Mitch (January 9, 2014). "Female IAF pilots cleared to fly while pregnant". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  12. ^ Norton, Bill (2004). Air war on the edge : a history of the Israeli Air Force and its aircraft since 1947. Hinckley, Eng.: Midland. ISBN 1-85780-088-5. OCLC 55628179.
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