The chair of Israel’s Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday blocked the call-up of female reservists to guard captured Nukhba terrorists.
During the session, a 24-year-old reservist identified only as Shani (a pseudonym) told lawmakers she was called up earlier this month to serve as a guard but refused, citing “abysmal conditions” and a lack of training or proper equipment. “If you want one of us to become the next victim of rape or murder, by all means, go ahead and draft us,” she said.
Shani, a former tank instructor, said she volunteered for what she believed would be meaningful service. Instead, she was assigned to deliver meals to detainees three times a day. She recounted conversations in which unarmed female guards asked their officers, “What happens if someone slits my throat with a knife? Will anyone save me?” An officer allegedly replied, “Don’t worry — I’m a father to a daughter too, and nothing will happen to you while you’re under my command.”
She added that up to 80 percent of the women assigned to guard duty have experienced sexual harassment by inmates, and likely many more have been assaulted “—and nobody sees us.” Shani said she fears each night that she will be jailed or face an investigation for refusing the draft order, which she insisted was not disloyalty.
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Committee Chair MK Yuli Edelstein said he had not been aware of the situation and that Shani’s testimony “blew everyone’s fuses.” He expressed frustration that the issue had been “promised resolved five times.”
Edelstein ordered an immediate halt to further drafting of female reservists for Nahava guard duties and demanded that the IDF submit a detailed work plan explaining why the practice continued despite the committee’s directives. He also limited the current run of call-ups to only through April 29.
In recent months, both men and women who served in rear-area roles (noncombat support positions behind the front lines) have received unexpected summons to serve as detainee commanders under Tzav 8. Reports last May indicated that former recruit instructors had already been mobilized to guard inmates across multiple detention facilities.