The Blogs: IDF Female Fighters in the ‘Swords of Iron’ War

A quarter of my IDF Palmar combat medical extraction unit serving on the Gaza front are women. It’s a very different IDF to the one I first enlisted back in the late 1980s. Despite being the only military in the world to draft women, women were not serving in any combat roles at all. The only women we ever saw were clerks or infantry instructors. In addition, there were women in other support roles and in the intelligence corps.

IDF female fighter on the Gaza front. ©️ T. Book, 2025

Right now, the IDF is almost fully integrated. The female soldiers in my unit include doctors, paramedics, combat soldiers, and combat medics. The question in the modern IDF is not “are you male or female? The question is, “are you the best at what you can do?”

Sometimes the pilots of the Blackhawk or Sikorsky evacuation helicopters are female. After a hiatus of forty years, women were allowed to enter the air combat training school after a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court in 1997 following an appeal by Alice Miller, a South African immigrant with a civilian pilot’s license, to enter the prestigious course. Miller’s appeal was based on Israel’s Declaration of Independence, which states:

The State of Israel… will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.

In practicing the above, the IDF ensures that Jewish homeland has become an international beacon of light for toleration, equality and inclusion. Very far from the “apartheid” canard hurled at it by the ignorant haters and useful idiots. Even though Miller failed in passing the rigorous requirements of the course, she broke the glass ceiling and opened the way for other women.

On October 7, 2023, Tal-Sara was one of seven female Israeli tank crew members from the Caracal brigade who fought against Hamas terrorists continuously for an unbelievable 18 hours! These young women were the first ever all-female tank crew to engage in active combat in history. They killed an estimated 50 terrorists, saved a kibbutz, and successfully blocked a massive hole in the border fence.

Tal Sarah, one of the first all female tank crew members who participated in combat (on October 7) in the history of warfare. Photo, ©️ T. Book, 2025

Since her discharge from the regular army, she has been on reserves in my combat medical extraction unit (Palmar) on the Gaza front. Despite her fame, both national and international, Tal-Sarah, while being justifiably proud of her role, was extremely modest and soft-spoken. She had fire in her eyes and a strong spirit. Tal-Sarah told me:

I never expected to be a hero and to fight overwhelming amounts of terrorists. Only after the event when I thought of it, did I realize how we made history. We received hundreds of supportive messages from people we saved, and indeed form all over the world. We have been interviewed my mainstream media from many international outlets. I don’t believe we did anything extraordinary; we just did our duty to defend the State of Israel and her citizens.

She recounted how in the midst the battle she phoned home, during a brief lull in the fighting, to tell her family how much she loved them. She saw death before her eyes and was sure that this was her end. Instead, her crew emerged triumphant and are an inspiration to us all. In the very near future her dream will be fulfilled, as she will be joining a newly established all-female reserve tank crew unit.

The example of these fine young women who strive to go above and beyond what is required of them to serve our country and people is in stark contrast to most of the Ultra-Orthodox community who are against any kind of national service for our country.

Jews are instructed in the Talmud not to “rely on miracles” but rather to be active in working to make them happen. The IDF is a formidable fighting force largely because of the special and dedicated men and women who are prepared to give the best years of their lives, and if necessary their very lives, to safeguard the miracle of the Jewish State for future generations.

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Tuvia is currently serving as an IDF combat medic on the Gaza front in Palmar Asaf. He has been in this unit since October 7, and is currently on his seventh deployment.