While much was made of the recent sea change in Saudi Arabian law that now allows women to drive, Israel has seemingly one-upped the Kingdom with the graduation of its first class of women tank operators. Upon completing the eight-month course, 13 female soldiers were certified as tank operators, a decision that didn’t pass without controversy. For the past several months, veterans of Israel’s famed armor corps have weighed-in via local media expressing support or concern that women are not able to handle the weight requirements. The army did its best to make physical adjustments to the tanks and the candidates of the first class clearly gave it their all. Next up for the inaugural class is a 4-month test deployment along Israel’s southern border – hardly an area where tankists are unlikely to be called into action. After being meshed with 15 male soldiers selected for the new unit, the group will assume a defensive role along the border with the Golan Heights.