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Belonging to the jewish nation: Life stories of israeli female combat soldiers

Gendered Perspectives on Conflict and Violence: Part A

ISBN: 978-1-78350-110-6

Publication date: 15 October 2013

Abstract

Purpose

Through life stories and the unique lens of military combat service, this study analyzes how Israeli Jewish women construct their relationship to the Jewish nation-state.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study establishes a theoretical relationship between gender and the nation, including concepts such as the nation-state, the public/private divide, Jewish womanhood, and militarization in Israel. It utilizes in-depth semi-structured life story interviews with 17 Israeli Jewish women, who served in combat roles in the Israeli military.

Findings

These women demonstrate ambivalent and gendered narratives of sacrifice and success and of loyalty and resistance as they transgress and comply with the idea of the national Jewish home. They reveal a strong desire for national belonging that can be seen as an attempt to challenge the gendered public/private divide and secure their status as qualified citizens.

Social implications

Women’s integration in the military is a political issue in Israel where liberal and radical feminists, religious, bureaucratic, and other civil groups are pushing for contrasting demands. I engage in this debate by emphasizing the voices of women soldiers.

Originality/value

Instead of focusing on subjugation and marginalization owing to the unsolvable conundrum of partial military inclusion leading to (partial) political and societal exclusion, I offer an analysis of military combat service as a meaning-making practice providing a new understanding of Israeli women’s relationship to the Jewish nation-state.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the women, who have allowed me into their lives and shared with me their feelings, thoughts, jokes, and laughs with confidence and enthusiasm, and sometimes with shyness and hesitance. I am touched by the experience of attending to their words, and appreciate their contribution to this project in which they shared with me complex and emotional stories. I would also like to thank Dana Golan, Executive Director of Breaking the Silence, for her help in finding female combat veterans.

Citation

Zaccai, C. (2013), "Belonging to the jewish nation: Life stories of israeli female combat soldiers", Gendered Perspectives on Conflict and Violence: Part A (Advances in Gender Research, Vol. 18A), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 137-164. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-2126(2013)000018A010

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited