Women soldiers

Basij female unit commander assassinated in latest attack targeting Iranian armed forces

Aqila, commander of the Afzal Sisters’ Basij unit in Mehrestan, was reportedly assassinated outside her home in front of her children.

|ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
Illustrative: An Iranian woman member of the Basij militia's Ashura battalion takes part in a military parade to mark the national Basij week at a military base of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards in northeastern Tehran on November 25, 2008.
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.

‘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.”

|ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
FEMALE TANK CREWS are deployed along the border as part of a pilot program to assess whether or not to integrate women into the IDF’s Armored Corps

IDF women's tank unit program to start in November, Zamir announces

Zamir said that at most, the female tank pilot program will lead to a single company of tanks crewed by women, a relatively small number out of the multiple brigades of tanks.

|ByYONAH JEREMY BOB
IDF forces during the “Sulfur and Fire” readiness exercise on May 15, 2026.

The controversy over mixed-gender IDF units still ruffles Israeli society - opinion

The deeper challenge lies in the clash between equality at any price and adherence to Jewish law.

|BySHUKI FRIEDMAN

Russia-Ukraine war rewrites traditional attitudes toward female fighters

'Because of this war, all the differences between men and women have been eliminated,’ says Marianna, a 31-year-old Ukrainian soldier.

APRIL 1, 2022ByOWEN HOLDAWAY/THE MEDIA LINE
Alles (left), a 37-year-old former archaeologist, is now manning a checkpoint in central Kyiv after completing basic weapons training with her colleague, 31-year-old Marianna, March 30, 2022.

International Women's Day: Number of female IDF soldiers rose by 170%

A record 46 women were serving with the rank of colonel in the IDF in 2021, compared to 39 in 2020.

MARCH 8, 2022ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Female crews will operate a Merkava IV tank near Egyptian border as part of final test in pilot program

For first time, woman appointed as military secretary to president

Col. N will be the first woman to serve as military secretary to the president.

DECEMBER 20, 2021ByGREER FAY CASHMAN
Col. N who was appointed as the military secretary for President Isaac Herzog on December 20, 2021

Senior IDF officer arrested for secretly photographing female soldiers

A senior officer was arrested for secretly taking intimate photos of soldiers with planted cameras in the women's residences.

NOVEMBER 11, 2021ByTAL LEV RAM/MAARIV
Female soldiers of the Bardales Battalion preparing for urban warfare training, near Nitzanim in the Arava area of Southern Israel.

IDF's second pilot to integrate women into armored corps to begin

Decision on the program is expected by mid-2022

NOVEMBER 23, 2020ByANNA AHRONHEIM
Israeli female soldiers walk in front of a tank during an exercise at the end of their tank instructors course at Shizafon base

Jordanian princess becomes country's first female jet pilot

Salma is the first Jordanian woman to complete training for a fixed-wing aircraft, but not the first one to finish pilot training in general.

JANUARY 9, 2020ByTZVI JOFFRE
A Royal Jordanian Air Force plane takes off from an air base to strike the Islamic state in the Syrian city of Raqqa February 5, 2015.

The ‘Four Daughters’ within me

How I grew from the one who doesn’t know to ask to the wise one.

APRIL 20, 2019ByYOCHI RAPPEPORT
Women of the Wall celebrating their 30th anniversary

Eisenkot: Women will not serve in Golani or Paratroopers under my watch

IDF Chief of Staff says there is a limit to integrating women into army's frontline units.

FEBRUARY 5, 2018ByANNA AHRONHEIM
Female soldier, Lotem Stapleton, a physical education officer, demonstrates a move during a training session in Krav Maga, an Israeli self-defense technique, at a military base in the Golan Heights March 1, 2017.

Israeli Air Force encourages more women to join pilots course

“A plane doesn’t care if it’s a woman or a man flying it. The Air Force wants the best of the best."

DECEMBER 20, 2017ByANNA AHRONHEIM
A female air force pilot at the Hatzor base

American women war veterans visit Israel for spiritual healing

"Every day is a battle both physically and mentally. Jerusalem has given me a sense of purpose." says Iraq War vet.

OCTOBER 20, 2017ByJUDITH SUDILOVSKY
Rocio Villanueva, 31, of Escondido, California (second from the right), joins hands with other US women veterans prior to being baptized in the Jordan River