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Caracal Battalion

Or Ben-Yehuda in April 2024. (IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
October 7, 2026, 9:32 am
‘We’re not breaking’: The untold heroics of the female fighters who held off Hamas at Sufa
In her new book, ‘Israel’s Women Warriors,’ ToI correspondent Tal Schneider tells the stories of women who played an outsized yet largely unsung role in defending Israel during the October 7, 2023, terrorist onslaught. In this exclusive excerpt translated into English, Or Ben-Yehuda of the mixed-gender Caracal Battalion takes control as an army outpost is overrun, with the fates of fellow soldiers, and several communities, on the line
By Tal Schneider
Mix-gender Caracal battalion troops at the end of their basic training. (IDF)
May 16, 2025, 8:09 am
Friday Focus with Tal Schneider: The IDF’s women warriors
Even as some 70,000 ultra-Orthodox young men attempt to evade the draft, new IDF figures show that women now make up over 20% of troops in fighting units
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Tal Schneider
Maj. Avraham Hovelashvili (IDF)
December 6, 2024, 8:11 am
Maj. Avi Hovelashvili, 26: Career officer never got to meet his son
Killed while battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7
By ToI Staff
A female IDF combat soldier inside a tank, in footage broadcast on November 25, 2023. (screenshot: Channel 12)
November 26, 2023, 1:03 am
Female IDF tank crews ran down dozens of Hamas terrorists on October 7
Channel 12 interviews soldiers from all-woman company within mixed-gender battalion who say there was no time for fear or hesitation, battled terrorists for 17 hours
By ToI Staff
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks during a meeting with his Greek counterpart Nikos Panagiotopoulos, in Athens, May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
June 7, 2023, 5:23 pm
Rejecting criticism, Gallant says female and male IDF fighters ‘one and the same’
Defense minister says women involved in country’s defense at all levels, after conservative voices denounced mixed service following killing of man and woman together in guard post
By ToI Staff
Female soldiers operate a tank in the Negev Desert, in an undated photograph. (Israel Defense Forces)
October 27, 2022, 1:00 pm
IDF to deploy all-female tank crews after two-year trial deemed a success
Merkava IV company will defend Egyptian frontier as permanent part of mixed-gender Caracal Battalion; Kohavi hails successful pilot enabling more combat roles for women
By Emanuel Fabian
Maj. Or Livni speaks to the Kan public broadcaster on the Egyptian border, March 29, 2018. (Screenshot: Youtube/Kan)
July 13, 2022, 11:44 pm
IDF appoints first female officer to lead light infantry battalion
Or Livni, who was given citation for continuing to command troops despite being wounded in 2014 incident on Egypt border, to be promoted to rank of lieutenant-colonel
By Emanuel Fabian
View of Road 12 on the Israeli-Egyptian border, on October 15, 2017. (Yaniv Nadav/Flash90)
February 4, 2022, 9:59 pm
Officer removed over friendly fire incident on Egypt border that wounded 2 soldiers
Internal probe finds Caracal Brigade deputy commander failed to coordinate aspects of operation with other units involved, violated regulations when he opened fire on border cops
By ToI Staff
Israeli soldiers pretend to arrest a suspected smuggler during a simulation near the Egyptian border on July 8, 2021. (Israel Defense Forces)
July 12, 2021, 6:30 am
Turning to crime-fighting, IDF steps up efforts against drug running from Sinai
Military cracks down on marijuana smuggling, but core economic issues pushing Bedouin Israelis to crime remain, and campaign seems to have little effect on overall drug trade
By Judah Ari Gross
Soldiers of the Caracal Battalion prepare for a hike as part of their training on September 3, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
July 8, 2021, 8:57 am
After heading coed battalion, an IDF officer sees women soon leading the charge
As he leaves Caracal, Lt. Col. Erez Shabtay hails performance of mixed-gender units over same-sex ones, says his troops cut smuggling on Egyptian border by 80%
By Judah Ari Gross
Illustrative image of a female IDF tank instructor during an exercise on January 1, 2013. (Cpl. Zev Marmorstein/IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
July 1, 2021, 12:31 am
In first, female tank operators to be deployed along Egyptian border
Beginning next month, an all-female armored Merkava IV company will defend the frontier as part of the mixed-gender Caracal Battalion, commander says
By Judah Ari Gross
Soldiers of the mixed-gender Caracal Battalion prepare for a night hike during training, near the border with Egypt, September 3, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
August 21, 2019, 8:07 pm
Netanyahu defends female troops after Smotrich blasts mixed-gender units
PM praises servicewomen as transportation minister claims men and women serving together weakens IDF
IDF soldier Michaela Levit, 19, whose body was found on her army base in central Israel on May 15, 2019, in a photograph posted to her social media on October 14, 2018. (Instagram)
May 19, 2019, 6:43 pm
Family searching for answers after US-born IDF lone soldier dies by suicide
Michaela ‘Mika’ Levit, 19, was found dead outside her base last week, having left a note to her family describing recent ‘hardships,’ her cousin says
By Judah Ari Gross
A female soldier operates a tank in the Negev desert, in an undated photograph. (Israel Defense Forces)
April 14, 2019, 4:46 pm
Denying reports, IDF says no new decision in shelving of female tank operators
Army says there’s been no change since last summer, when the integration of women was frozen due to the financial cost, despite a successful pilot program
By Judah Ari Gross
Head of the IDF Armored Corps Brig. Gen. Guy Hasson, center, poses on a tank with the army's first female tank commanders, who graduated their course on June 28, 2018. (Israel Defense Forces)
From the WebApril 14, 2019, 10:29 am
IDF said to nix female tank soldiers, despite successful trial
Army Radio says decision, opposed by feminist groups, made due to ‘manpower considerations;’ women trained to operate tanks will instead finish service in mixed infantry units
By Judah Ari Gross
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