Elinor Joseph Elinor Joseph ( , ; born 1991 in Jish , Israel ) is an Israeli soldier who has served with the Caracal Battalion of the Israel Defense Forces since 2010 . She is the first Arab woman ever to serve in a combat role in the Israeli army . Background . Elinor Joseph was born into a Christian family from the Arab village of Jish ( Gush Halav ) in northern Israel . Her parents are Charbel and Warda Joseph and she has an older sister , Lauren . Charbel served in the Israeli Paratroopers Brigade . The Joseph family relocated to the Arab neighborhood of Wadi Nisnas in Haifa when Elinor was young . Military service . Enlistment and training . When Elinor graduated high school , her father encouraged her to enlist in the IDF . Though initially opposed to the idea , she gradually cottoned to it and cultivated an ambition to serve as a combat medic . However , upon arriving at the recruitment base , she was informed that she had already been ordained to serve as an office clerk . Deeply disappointed , Elinor refused to be transported out to a new base , until finally , after several days , a meeting was arranged between her and a colonel from the Northern Command . The colonel made Elinor a singular proposal : undergo regular basic training and , on the condition of being selected as an outstanding trainee , go on to attempt the medic ' s training course . Elinor agreed . She completed basic training , was the outstanding trainee of her platoon , and subsequently proceeded to the medic ' s training course . In an interview with Gadi Sukenik of Channel 2 , Elinor described the course as " one of the most . . . amazing experiences I ever had . " At the completion ceremony , on account of her being an outstanding cadet , her commander awarded her her own medic ' s pin . Tours of duty . After successfully completing the medic ' s training course , Elinor Joseph was stationed in a military police base near the Palestinian city of Qalqilyah . In an interview with Chen Kotas Bar of " Ma ' ariv " she recounted how soldiers there would summon her whenever a problem arose with the local residents and there was need for a translator . She had some misgivings about serving at a border crossing , but in those moments she reminded herself of the Katyusha rockets that rained down on Haifa . " If someone would tell me that serving in the IDF means killing Arabs , I remind them that Arabs also kill Arabs , " she told Rotem Caro Weizman of the IDF Spokesperson ' s Unit . In response to a transfer request Elinor made , in 2010 she was reassigned to the Caracal battalion , which operates in the western Negev along Israel ' s border with Egypt . She thus became the first Arab woman ever to serve in the Israeli army in a combat role . Reactions . Elinor Joseph described the reactions of her friends and neighbors as mixed . While she encountered no overt hostility , walking around her neighborhood in the IDF uniform drew cross looks from some passersby . Some of Elinor ' s friends terminated contact with her , while with others she developed a closer relationship . Arab - Israeli journalist Suleiman al - Shafi has rejected that Elinor Joseph is the first Arab woman to serve in a combat role in the IDF . In his view , it is more accurate to describe her as the first to have done so publicly .