Meet the IDF women on the front lines of the Gaza war

• Published date: 08 March 2024
• Author: SETH J. FRANTZMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

During five months covering the war, I came across many inspiring stories of women in combat and in other roles in the IDF. For instance, on December 11, I drove down to Kibbutz Alumim to meet with the Israeli Skyriders unit that uses drones to help the IDF fight terrorists. One of the soldiers I met was named Romi, a female member of the unit. She described how she had been studying in Italy before the war began. She was back in Israel on Oct. 7 and was awakened like millions of others to the news of the attack. "We knew we had to go back to the army and serve," she recalled. She had originally joined the army in 2018; now she returned to this unique unit

The Skyriders use a small drone called the Skylark. It is launched with a kind of catapult by a soldier on the ground. The drone, around the size of a person, can fly over Gaza and monitor the situation on the ground. Then it brings back information that can be used by artillery units, such as the 215th Artillery Unit, which uses M109 howitzers to target enemies in Gaza. This is the new way of war, knitting together the latest intelligence from real-time feeds, closing the loop on enemies. In short, if an enemy pops up, the drones can see them and help call in strikes.

Romi's unit includes men and women. She is a combat soldier and is proud of it. "I think women can serve in every unit in the army, and a girl that can pass those standards in any unit can be a great soldier," she told me in December.

"I am so glad I got to go to this training and become a combat soldier; I think it's the best fit for me." She referenced news in December that women have been accepted to Israel's elite search and rescue unit 669. "If I was able to go to a special unit like that, I would have sought to go to it," she said. "A lot of women would do better than the guys," she said with a smile. It is estimated that 130 women will eventually be integrated into the elite 669 unit and also the elite Yahalom unit.

Nevertheless, Romi noted that some units still do not allow women to try out for them. These include infantry combat units, as well as units such as the patrol boat squadron. Elite combat units also do not include women. However, women are slowly gaining more access and opportunities. They serve in mixed coed units such as the Caracal border patrol unit. Some members of the Caracal helped defend the border on Oct. 7 during the Hamas attack. The unit eliminated an estimated 100 terrorists in battles near Sufa.

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