Sgt. N. from Modi'in is only 21 years old but has already shattered several glass ceilings. She passed the Naval Officers Course but chose to waive the role. “They offered me the screening for Yahalom (the Combat Engineering Corps special forces unit),” she recalled. “I did not even know there were women there. They told me it was a pilot that had started a few months earlier. I wanted to try.”
After being accepted, she realized that only seven women had gone through the process before her, and all of them were still in training.
The pilot program, although officially deemed a success, also left a bitter taste, as the awarding of the combat soldier pin to its graduates was initially in doubt. “A pilot is a test,” she explained. “It can work and succeed, but they can also tell me it's not suitable and that's it. I enlisted when there was still no defined target. Everything was still being examined, but with strong backing and a real desire for it to work.”
Despite obstacles along the way and doubts raised by male soldiers serving alongside her, Sgt. N. completed the second cycle of the female fighters pilot in the elite Yahalom unit. She has already participated in 40 operational missions within the Gaza Strip.
She enlisted directly into wartime service in January 2024 and remembers the constant changes that characterized her training. “They gathered us for talks all the time, with many adjustments. It was trial and error. At first, women were meant to serve in rear bomb disposal teams, but during the pilot they identified greater potential. Now we are also involved in subterranean route analysis,” she said.
‘We choose our battles’
The fighters agree that the ceremony awarding combat pins to female graduates of the second Yahalom pilot marked another milestone. “Once things settle, it becomes a non-issue. There is nothing left to process,” said Maj. A., 27, from Nitzanim, a company commander in the 611th Battalion of the Artillery Corps’ 282nd Brigade.
Maj. A. helped establish the battalion command at the outbreak of the war, led operational coordination with maneuvering divisions in Gaza and was responsible for providing real-time alerts warning forces of aerial threats. “When women first arrived in pilot training and in Oketz (IDF's canine unit), there was also chaos at the beginning. Naturally, it happens here too,” she said.
“We choose our battles", Sgt. N. added. "From our perspective, we need to cross the line and maneuver. Later, when we can deal with the pin, we will,” Sgt. N. said, reinforcing the company commander’s remarks.
Sgt. A., 21, from Jerusalem, was also drafted straight into the war in August 2024. She described her first ground maneuver in Gaza just a week and a half after completing training. “I felt like, ‘Come on, give it to us. I worked for this for a year', she said. "That is when I understood the value. I saw what the people around me had been dealing with for a long time. Reservists, infantry soldiers, even trainees. Seeing Gaza in 2025 flattened was a shock.”
"I saved my best friend's life"
Sgt. A. serves in the Sky Rider drone unit, operating tactical drones for intelligence gathering and directing combat forces in Gaza, the West Bank and Syria. Those moments, moving in convoys through the Gaza Strip, stand out most vividly in her memory. “You’re riding in a Humvee that can be targeted at any moment,” she said. “It creates fear, but you have to stay alert.”
Alongside prolonged fighting, the women also share about coping with the painful loss of friends. Lt. S., 23, from Sha’ar Efraim, a weapons team commander in the Oketz canine unit, joined the conversation. She has taken part in operations in Syria and commanded a force during an extended mission in the West Bank.
She recalled how she learned of the death of her close friend, Staff Sgt. David Sasson, who was killed on March 6, 2024, in southern Gaza. “It broke me,” she said through tears. “We studied together, enlisted together into Oketz and dreamed of becoming fighters. He was always smiling and optimistic. Everyone loved him and he always wanted to give. “I talk about him every time we head out on a navigation exercise.”
Throughout the fighting, each of them, in their own role, came to understand the significance of what they were doing. One moment that stands out for Maj. A. in particular took place in November 2024.
“We identified a threat to our forces and issued a ‘Purple Rain’ alert for immediate shelter,” she recalled. “Two weeks later, I met a friend who told me how they heard the order over the radio, took cover and the weapon exploded above them. It was a closure for me. I realized we had saved the life of a close friend.”
‘A man and I will compete for the same role’
The four look at one another with pride, both for the path each has taken and the one being paved for those who will follow.
“Men have been running the army since 1948. A man has to move from his chair for there to be room for us to sit,” Maj. A. said. “We’re breaking through gradually. In the end, a man and I will compete for the same role, and both of us will have to prove we’re good.”
Views among the fighters differ on balancing a military career with family life. “Seeing you here with a Falafel (oak leaf insignia for high-ranked IDF officers) is crazy,” Lt. S. said to Maj. A.
“I think it's hard to be at the age of starting a family while staying in the army. My mother served in the army when I was a child. I remember her being at home, but in our family we joke that 'my father was the best mom'. I would not want to stay in service once I am a mother. Still, I would like to see more women making decisions at the top, rather than an overwhelming male majority.”
Maj. A., for her part, offered a different view. “I don’t think it’s any different from the difficulties my male friends are facing. They also want to be fathers at home, study and stop showering in flip-flops,” she said. “This isn’t about me being a woman. It’s simply hard for women and for men alike. I’m walking on the shards of glass ceilings others broke.”
All four share a clear understanding that the battlefield is no place for affirmative action. “The goal of the IDF is to win, not to create equality. No one is here just to check a box,” Sgt. N. said.
They agree that combat ability is not determined by gender, though they note traits they often see among women that provide an operational advantage. “Judgment, speed, multitasking, fine motor skills, sharpness and alertness are essential for war and often characterize women,” Sgt. N. said. “But before going on a mission, the question is who is best for it. The best person should be chosen. Let’s stop talking about equality and focus on winning.”
Women in the IDF have come a long way since the state’s founding. In 1995, women were integrated into pilot training and combat roles in the Border Police. By the early 2000s, they were also serving as naval officers, air defense fighters, artillery soldiers and in border infantry companies. Over the following two decades, additional roles opened, including Oketz, counterterror units, armored corps, combat intelligence, rescue and extraction units, alongside the establishment of the Caracal Battalion.
In the past two years, women have been trained as full-fledged fighters in units such as Unit 669, Yahalom and Unit 504. Looking ahead to 2026, ynet revealed last week that eight months after the chief of staff’s decision to halt a mobile infantry pilot for women, another pilot is expected to launch in November 2026.
“The fact that the army is opening additional special units to women proves that it works,” Sgt. N. concluded. “A pilot approved at the height of the war shows that something right is happening here.”