Women in the IDF: Insights from the Israel-Hamas War
Women in the IDF: Insights from the Israel-Hamas War
At present, women serve in a variety of combat roles and combat support positions in various militaries around the globe including the IDF. New technologies of warfare are transferring more and more soldiers, including women, from the sidelines into the heart of the battlespace. More women soldiers are thus becoming significant participants in war by virtue of their assignment to strategic war rooms. The stationing of women in war rooms located on the borders of conflict zones, may challenge traditional concepts of security, war, and gender roles. The talk will address the role of women in the IDF during and following the October 7th, 2023, attack.
Ayelet Harel is a Professor of Political Science in Ben-Gurion University’s Conflict Management and Resolution Program, and the Department of Politics and Government. She is also serving as the vice-dean of the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her research is located at the intersection of Politics, Conflict Studies and Feminist International Relations. Her last book, Breaking the Binaries in Security Studies (co-authored with Daphna-Tekoah), was awarded ERGOMAS Guiseppe Caforio Book Award 2021, and received numerous favorable reviews. Her current research focuses on conflict and trauma; democracy in deeply divided societies; narratives of women in combat roles in militaries worldwide; as well as agency among women in minority communities, during intractable conflicts. She won several prizes of excellence in research and teaching including the Association of Israel Studies’ young scholar award and the Roth prize for “the inspiring professor”.