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


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

Women headed for IDF’s prestigious Sayeret Matkal?

The program will begin based on whether there are enough female recruits who meet the rigorous criteria.

Women will soon be able to serve in the Israeli Air Force's elite  669 Search and Rescue Unit as well as the Yahalom combat engineering unit.

Nothing must be allowed to take us away from the sacred duty to serve in the reserves - opinion

Recent protests have seen members of Israel's reserves refuse to serve, this endangers the unity of our Nation.

 IDF Cheif of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi looks on as the writer receives a citation of excellence for his reserve duty, shaking hands with Brig.-Gen Benny Ben Ari, commander of the Reserve Forces Corps, at a ceremony earlier this year.

Violent riots break out overnight in Beit Shemesh, Jerusalem

The riots were held by ultra-Orthodox Israelis in response to a variety of municipal and national policies.

 The aftermath of violent riots in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh on Wednesday evening, June 28, 2023.

IDF to penalize striking reservists, disregard public campaign

The IDF’s view is that it wants to keep itself out of politics and does not want to get involved in responding to public letter campaigns.

 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

High Court: Should women serve in all IDF combat units?

The petitioners argued that women were able to meet the demands of a wide variety of heavy infantry and special units and the law demanded that women be admitted.

Women in an IDF combat unit help one of their fellow fighters during a training exercise