Knesset conference honors female IDF fighters

By Sam Sokol 16 February 2026, 11:07 am

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Soldiers of the mixed-gender IDF Caracal battalion carrying a fellow soldier on a stretcher at the end of a 16 km journey to complete their training course in Tel Nitzan, near the border with Egypt, September 3, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Lawmakers gather in the Knesset for a special conference to honor female fighters less than a day after two IDF servicewomen were attacked by a mob in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak.

Addressing the conference, Lt. Col. Or Ben Yehuda — who until last year served as the commander of the Border Defense Corps’ Caracal Battalion — declares that “It is a great privilege to serve my country and as long as I am worthy, I will do everything to protect this country.”

“There is an amazing generation of female fighters currently growing up in the IDF, and they are going to be amazing, and they are making their way there,” she says.

Lt. Col. Or Ben Yehuda (center) attends a conference in the Knesset February 16, 2026. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

“The very fact of holding the conference is a clear statement [that] the State of Israel recognizes the contribution of women to its national security,” says Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman.

“Women combatants are not a footnote. They are the heart of the Israeli story. In recent years, we have often discussed the question of whether women should be fighters in the IDF or not…The answer was and remains yes. Women can be fighters in the IDF. Fighters no less good than men,” he continues, noting that women fought and died while defending Israel on October 7.