IDF Women

‘We're lone soldiers, but we're not lonely’: How the IDF supports fighters without families

“Olim (immigrant) soldiers who come from abroad to Israel do it purely out of a sense of Zionism and because they really want to take part in helping Israel and helping the IDF.”

Staff Sergeant Oren Metzuyanim, a 21-year-old lone soldier at the main rehearsal of the 78th anniversary Independence Day ceremony, held at Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, on April 19, 2026.
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir seen on November 3, 2025

Several haredi rabbis protesting women in IDF tank units skip meeting with IDF chief Zamir

Female IDF soldiers work on a tank; illustrative.

Equality NGO Forum Dvorah slams hesder yeshivot boycott over women's integration in tank units

DF armored forces at a staging area in southern Israel near the border with Gaza. January 01, 2024.

Editor's Notes: High Court ruling on women in tanks deepens religious divide in IDF - comment


Empowered women: Female IDF trailblazers mark historic achievements in defense – editorial

Religious women join IDF combat units, breaking barriers and stereotypes.

IDF female combat soldiers.

Religious women break barriers in new IDF combat soldier unit

The unit will be drafted next Tuesday in the Combat Intelligence Corps, and soldiers will have spiritual and halachic guidance throughout their service.

 A female IDF soldier stands in front of a tank.

Historic first: Female Israeli combat soldiers conduct Lebanon operations

Since the onset of the war, the combat intelligence team, consisting of female soldiers, had been stationed near the Syrian border and in the Mount Dov region.

 Female combat soldiers from combat intelligence operate in southern Lebanon, November 18, 2024.

These women are the first IDF tank crew preventing drug smuggling along Egyptian border

Meet the 10 women making history operation Israel's first female tank crew along the Egyptian border, preventing drug smuggling.

IDF female combat soldiers.

IDF tactical intelligence unit's new commander breaks glass ceiling on the frontlines

While traditional aerial units provide surveillance and reconnaissance, the Sky Riders’ focus is on the immediate areas surrounding ground troops to which they are assigned, using low-flying drones.

 SKYLARK MINI UAVs can be easily deployed by hand in the field.

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.