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Israeli Women Are Entering the Battlefield in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria

(Wall Street Journal) Carrie Keller-Lynn - Days ago, an IDF search-and-rescue team in Gaza spent hours drilling through concrete and plying aside rebar to recover the body of a fallen soldier buried under rubble in Khan Yunis. The combat team was made up mostly of women soldiers. "A year and a half ago, I would never have dreamed of leading a combat team within Lebanon or Gaza," said the major, 25, who is among a growing number of women serving on the front lines of Israel's military. "I think the war proved to all of us how much we are capable of." Israel is one of the few countries that subjects women to a draft at age 18, just like men. Over half of the military's combat roles are open to women, and 90% of overall roles. Today, women represent 21% of Israel's combat-classed forces, jumping from 14% before the war and 7% a decade earlier. The military reported an increased female demand to go into combat roles. "There are three reasons militaries look to put women in combat roles: ideology, equality and necessity," said Jacob Stoil, chair of applied history at the Modern War Institute at West Point. "You'll see women serving in combat roles when one of those three are the case," he said, adding that in Israel all three apply.
2025-06-08 00:00:00
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