This Young Woman Battled the Israeli Army to Become a Combat Soldier

Israeli soldier Eden Levy Image by Tomer Appelbaum
A conversation with 20-year old Eden Levy at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport:
Hi, can I ask why you’re traveling?
I start my army service next week, and I’ve been living at home for the last while. I’m flying now so that I can take a little break with my sister before I come back to a routine where I have to get up at 5:30 every morning. It’s my first pre-army and post-army trip, together.
You mean you are re-enlisting in the IDF?
I’ve already served for nine months as a computer technician and now I’m going to be a combat soldier. I’m starting a whole new track, which involves basic training and everything.
Why are you starting all over?
Because those are the conditions that the army imposed. I already did some basic training, but I had to accept the fact that the time already invested wouldn’t count for the new job.
But why are you switching? What’s your motivation?
With the way things are today, I felt that it was one of the most important things I could do, and if I have the chance, why not? If I can qualify as a combat soldier, then why not do it?
Seems kind of extreme.
I know that it’s a very unusual choice to give up the time I’ve already put into my military service, but I was really bored in that other job. I wanted to be a combat soldier from the start, but they wouldn’t let me.
Computer technician doesn’t sound like such a bad job.
It’s considered one of the best jobs in the IDF, and there was also a connection with the Hewlett-Packard Company, so I could have maybe done something with it after the army too, but not everyone is cut out to sit in front of two computers and a telephone nine hours a day. It’s definitely not what I was looking for.
It’s hard to switch jobs in the army.
It took me half a year to get out of my old job. I served in the navy, and small as it is, it’s very hard to get out of there once you’re in. I had to persuade my commanders, and then persuade their superior officers to let me go through the whole induction interview process again. I pretty much had to argue with every possible commander in the navy.
How did you manage to convince them in the end?
Basically, you have to write a convincing letter that will get through to them. But without the support of my direct commander, and my family, and my mother who dealt with all the paperwork, it wouldn’t have happened. I think I submitted the same request form three times. Twice I was turned down and on the third time they said yes.
You’re not afraid to enlist as a combat soldier?
Sure, it won’t be easy to be thrust into that, and not be home for weekends or sleep in a normal bed. And of course we’re all aware of what the security situation is like, and when you’re a soldier you’re more of a target and the danger is greater. It is scary. And now I also have to start basic training all over again.
That’s a nightmare in itself.
I think I’m coming into it in a more aware state. I’ve been through it before. Maybe it will be harder because the commanders will mostly be my age and they’ll be above me. It won’t be easy, but I’m preparing myself for it beforehand.
Subscribe to Haaretz here.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 2
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Fast Forward Columbia staff receive texts asking if they’re Jewish, as government hunts antisemitic harassment on campus
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Trump nominee Ed Martin, who praised a Nazi sympathizer, also compared Biden to Hitler
-
Opinion RFK Jr. and Trump are talking about an ‘autism registry’ — this sounds disturbingly familiar
-
Fast Forward Heavy police presence blocks anti-Israel protest in Brooklyn from reaching Jewish neighborhood
-
Yiddish קאָקני־ייִדיש“: אַ פּאָדקאַסט, אַ לשון און אַ שטײגער לעבן‘Cockney Yiddish’: A podcast, a language and a way of life
צװײ לאָנדאָנער היסטאָריקערינס לעבן אױף דאָס ייִדישע „איסט ענד“ אין אונדזער פֿאַנטאַזיע
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.