IDF Women

Under the radar: The program bringing ultra-Orthodox women into the IDF

Haredi women assist other like-minded women in joining the military, with exciting new avenues of exploration, and without compromising their way of life

Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin, former Israel Air Force commander, awards Esti Solomon the Above and Beyond medal for the program to integrate haredi women into the air force.
Head of the Arabic media desk at the IDF Spokesperson Unit Major "Captain" Ella Waweya; highest ranked Arab Muslim IDF soldier. 20.7.2024.

Captain Ella trades desk for the field as IDF's new Arab spokesperson

 There is a high demand for combat roles among women in the November-December 2023 draft

Women's integration into IDF 'disaster': Rabbis send letter to Netanyahu demanding intervention

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich arrives to a conference of the Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon in Jerusalem, December 25, 2025

Smotrich doubles down on refusal to enlist daughter, claims IDF is 'no place for women'


Gallant says 'dramatic change' coming in integrating more women in IDF combat roles

Debates over the inclusion of female combat soldiers have raged in Israel since the beginning of the war.

 Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meeting with female combat commanders to discuss "dramatic changes" in the IDF, March 8, 2024.

Isaac Herzog: Women must have influence at all levels of decision-making - exclusive

The war has proved once again: Israeli heroines are everywhere.

Israeli soldiers of Caracal battalion

Less than 50% of Israeli men believe women are capable of being combat soldiers

Only 65% of Israelis believe a woman can be IDF chief-of-staff; little over half of Israeli men believe women can hold combat positions.

 There is a high demand for combat roles among women in the November-December 2023 draft

Support for female combat soldiers dependent on sector, study finds

Support for women combat soldiers is roughly the same between men and women.

IDF female combat soldiers.

Filmmakers speak about adapting the saga of the female tank crew for the movies 

Currently, Menahemi and Sela are working on researching the story in depth, all of which is being done in coordination with the IDF. 

 ELEANOR SELA (left) and Ayelet Menahemi.

N12 presenter blasts Israeli war hero for objecting to female fighters in Gaza

Yom Kippur War hero Avigdor Kahalani was confronted about his past comments criticizing the role of women in the Israeli military.

 Former Israeli politician and Brigadier General Avigdor Kahalani poses for a picture in the Valley of Tears, Golan Heights, northern Israel, September 20, 2022.

Two Israeli women to enter elite Air Force unit training

Two women to enter elite air force unit 669 training.

 There is a high demand for combat roles among women in the November-December 2023 draft

WATCH: IDF's first mixed-gender battalion operates in the heart of Gaza

In a hotel used by Hamas as a headquarters, the mixed unit assisted an IDF commando unit in breaking through certain structures to facilitate the commandos' fluid movements.

 IDF female and male soldiers are seen operating in the Gaza Strip on November 19, 2023

The IDF women's 'hevra kadisha', an act of true loving kindness

Soldiers in the IDF, male or female, who lose their life while enlisted are taken care of by the army’s hevra kadisha and have the right to be buried in an army cemetery.

 TRAINING EXERCISE to identify a halala

Israel's Druze sector threatens to cut ties with IDF after young woman drafted

Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif warned that "if the State of Israel wishes to maintain its alliance with the Druze community - it must set the record straight."

 Israeli soldiers and rescue forces seen at Mount Harif military base in the southern Negev desert, close to the border with Egypt, on June 3, 2023