Karate Corporal

Female soldier unleashes martial arts on angry Jerusalem mob

Finding herself surrounded by ultra-Orthodox protesters, combat trooper follows her training — and fights

Itamar Sharon is a news editor at The Times of Israel

A female soldier faces off against ultra-Orthodox protesters in Jerusalem in October 2017 (Courtesy)
A female soldier faces off against ultra-Orthodox protesters in Jerusalem in October 2017 (Courtesy)

A lone woman finds herself surrounded by a mob of angry, violent men. It sounds like a nightmare scenario.

But when a female soldier found herself in just that predicament in Jerusalem this week, encircled by raging ultra-Orthodox anti-draft protesters, she decided to use some martial arts skills to become their nightmare instead.

The soldier’s car became trapped by a crowd of incensed protesters during a demonstration in the capital — one of a series of violent rallies following the arrest of two members of the community who failed to show up to the Israel Defense Forces draft offices, as is required by law.

Video footage of the protest shows the soldier as she attempts to help her car navigate the crowd. Several dozen protesters harass her, spitting on her and calling her a “whore” and a “shiksa” — a pejorative Yiddish term for a non-Jewish woman.

https://www.facebook.com/620238781490094/videos/825466257634011/

Uncowed, she fights back, kicking out at her tormentors and spreading out her arms in a combative gesture, as if daring the men to come at her. When one kicks her while her back is turned, she immediately lunges at him and returns the favor.

The soldier, identified by Channel 2 as “Cpl. N,” is a combat soldier in a mixed-gender infantry battalion.

Speaking with the news channel after the fact, Cpl. N once again exhibited a no-nonsense attitude.

“Listen, just so we’re clear, I was in a hurry, I needed to get somewhere,” she told a reporter in a phone call. “I did what was needed in order to do that and left. That’s it.”

Asked how she’d found the boldness to act as she did, the corporal replied glibly: “I don’t know. Ask God, he made me.”

As to the reactions she’s received to the video, she answered tersely: “I don’t care about reactions. I did what I did.”

Wasn’t she afraid? “Sometimes you do things without thinking.”

And in case you had doubts: “I’d do it again.”

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