Elana Sztokman

As the war in Gaza winds down, and the country prepares to return to “normal life” (though without Gilad Shalit home, it’s not really “normal”) I would like to note another side of the war: the role of women in the IDF. These women soldiers and officers are rarely seen, their roles are often invisible and ignored as the country continues to refer to “the boys” on the front, and of course, there are still certain roles that women so far are not allowed to fill, such as infantry. Nonetheless, women have made some remarkable contributions in this war – not just as spokespeople and public negotiators but as pilots, navigators, and more.

Lena, a 27-year old married student, has been serving for the past three years in the Israeli Air Force as the navigator of an unmanned aircraft. She was called in for reserve duty, among the 6,000 recruits that were selected for the Gaza operation Cast Lead, and her role has been critical.

“We are in constant contact with the field,” she said in a weekend interview published in Yediot Aharonot. “So, for example, if a commander says, ‘We hear noise,’ we go in and look. Our job is to say, either, ‘No, it’s a family’, or ‘It’s a band of terrorists.’” Such distinctions are critical, and have been extraordinarily challenging in facing the type of fighting that Hamas is notorious for. Yet, the IDF’s insistence on using Lena’s honed skills is what makes IDF warfare unique. Lena’s job not only ensures that soldiers are able to do their job effectively, but it holds a key role in maintaining IDF’s standard of ethics.

“It’s the reality that has been dictated to us,” she says. “The enemy could go and fight in open territories, but instead they use children as human shields and hide in schools and hospitals and kindergartens and mosques. These are things that I see with my own eyes.”

Lena’s work saves the lives of IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians on a regular basis. “Once, we received intelligence about terrorists planning on shooting an anti-tank missile at our forces. We scanned the area over and over and did not find it. Finally, after quite a lot of work, we found the launcher on a roof facing our forces, just waiting for someone to pull the trigger. It was lifesaving what we did. Unequivocally.” Whether that launcher is aimed at soldiers or Israeli civilians, Lena knows that it’s her job to find it and destroy it. “Most of what I do I can’t talk about,” she says, “but I know how many times my work has saved lives, and it feels good”.

There are dozens of women serving as officers and soldiers in Gaza, many of whom are operating machinery such as unmanned aircraft. They also serve as pilots, gunners, rescue workers, doctors, medics, and more. Ninety percent of the roles are available to women, and since 2001, women can also serve in the reserves until 38 – though they are entitled to exemptions with the onset of motherhood. Ten percent of all reservists are in fact women.

This operation is marked by a peculiar first: Major Dana Mishaeli-Benisho is the first officer to serve while pregnant. “I kept having to get larger and larger uniforms – clearly nobody had a five-month pregnant belly in mind when they designed these.” Mishaeli-Benisho, a third officer in Tank Brigade 401, smiles, covered in dust as she jumps on and off of jeeps. She hasn’t changed her clothes in a week and can’t remember when she last showered, but doesn’t mind. “My husband said that this is no place for a woman in my condition, but I told him to forget it, I’m staying here.”

Israel still has not reached the equality that it had in pre-1948, when women in fact did everything in the army. Between 1948 and 1999, women were designated to the “Women’s Corps”, where they served shorter amounts of time, did not do reserves, had easy exemptions, and were more often than not relegated to the role of making coffee, and sometimes serving other needs of men. But no more. Since the rules changed in the late 1990’s enabling women to enter combat duty, women have been gradually taking back roles that they once had, and enjoying every minute of it. “When my mother sees me, with my uniform and ranks on my shoulder,” she says, “she cries with pride.”

The women of the IDF have been instrumental in making the operation as effective as it was, and maintaining as low a casualty rate as possible. “None of our soldiers has been killed on my watch,” Lena says cautiously. Let’s pray that all the women – and men – who serve will be able to report the same.