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. See also Amira al-Hayb Lucy Aharish Sherut Leumi Women in the Israel Defense Forces References External links Israel Defense Forces 1991 births Living people Israeli Christians Israeli Maronites Israeli soldiers Women in 21st-century warfare Israeli female military personnel